1934 · New York
by Lee Miller (photographer); Frederick Ashton (subject)
New York: N.p., 1934. Vintage portrait photograph of choreographer Frederick Ashton, circa 1934. Printed mimeo snipe crediting Ashton's work for the 1934 play "Four Saints in Three Acts," stamp of photographer Lee Miller, and provenance stamps on the verso.
From the collection of artist and author Duncan Hannah.
Duncan Hannah was a key figure in the burgeoning New York underground arts scene, befriending Andy Warhol and his superstars, Lou Reed, Allen Ginsberg, Patti Smith, Salvador Dali, and many others. A graduate of the Parsons School of Design, his paintings were exhibited in the influential 1980 Times Square Show alongside work by Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, and several of his paintings are held in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Born into a middle-class British family at the turn of the century, Frederick Ashton's parents disapproved of his desire to enter the ballet. In spite of his family's wishes, he pursued his ambition to dance professionally, studying under Léonide Massine and Marie Rambert. He began working as a choreographer in the mid-1920s, eventually working his way up to becoming director of the Royal Ballet. He is today considered to have been groundbreaking in the development of a specifically English genre of ballet.
Virgil Thomson's important 1928 opera "Four Saints in Three Acts" made its Broadway premiere on February 20, 1934, at the 44th Street Theatre. Under the direction of noted Black conductor Eva Jessye, the production featured an all-Black cast, with unusual and innovative backdrops and costumes by modernist artist Florine Stettheimer. Since its premiere the play has been staged multiple times, most notably by experimental theatre pioneer Robert Wilson and prominent modern choreographer Mark Morris.
Photographer and photojournalist Elizabeth "Lee" Miller began working as a fashion and fine art photographer in Paris in the mid-1920s, later serving as a war correspondent for "Vogue" during WWII. Although little-celebrated during her life, her work has been the subject of numerous posthumous exhibitions and books, and has been noted as an inspiration for several fashion designers, including Ann Demeulemeester and Alexander McQueen.
8 x 10 inches. Very Good plus, lightly age toned, with annotations in manuscript ink identifying Ashton and the year on the bottom margin of the recto. (Inventory #: 162255)
From the collection of artist and author Duncan Hannah.
Duncan Hannah was a key figure in the burgeoning New York underground arts scene, befriending Andy Warhol and his superstars, Lou Reed, Allen Ginsberg, Patti Smith, Salvador Dali, and many others. A graduate of the Parsons School of Design, his paintings were exhibited in the influential 1980 Times Square Show alongside work by Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, and several of his paintings are held in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Born into a middle-class British family at the turn of the century, Frederick Ashton's parents disapproved of his desire to enter the ballet. In spite of his family's wishes, he pursued his ambition to dance professionally, studying under Léonide Massine and Marie Rambert. He began working as a choreographer in the mid-1920s, eventually working his way up to becoming director of the Royal Ballet. He is today considered to have been groundbreaking in the development of a specifically English genre of ballet.
Virgil Thomson's important 1928 opera "Four Saints in Three Acts" made its Broadway premiere on February 20, 1934, at the 44th Street Theatre. Under the direction of noted Black conductor Eva Jessye, the production featured an all-Black cast, with unusual and innovative backdrops and costumes by modernist artist Florine Stettheimer. Since its premiere the play has been staged multiple times, most notably by experimental theatre pioneer Robert Wilson and prominent modern choreographer Mark Morris.
Photographer and photojournalist Elizabeth "Lee" Miller began working as a fashion and fine art photographer in Paris in the mid-1920s, later serving as a war correspondent for "Vogue" during WWII. Although little-celebrated during her life, her work has been the subject of numerous posthumous exhibitions and books, and has been noted as an inspiration for several fashion designers, including Ann Demeulemeester and Alexander McQueen.
8 x 10 inches. Very Good plus, lightly age toned, with annotations in manuscript ink identifying Ashton and the year on the bottom margin of the recto. (Inventory #: 162255)
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