**Originally Listed At $400**

Louise Rosskam (American, 1910 to 2003). "On Main Street" gelatin silver print, July 1944. Artist signature on verso. An endearing photograph by Louise Rosskam entitled "On Main Street" depicting two little girls gathering at a shop window as they attempt to read the signage. Flanked by a pair of screen doors, the blond children excitedly press their faces to the window; the one raising her arm to shade the sign and render the text more visible. The two are adorably dressed: one wears a frilly blouse beneath wide-legged, crisscross overalls and the other in a short, patterned skirt over a collared shirt. The text on the verso of the image indicates that this photograph was taken in Powell, Wyoming, implying it was when Louise was employed by the Standard Oil Company and travelled the United States to tell the human story of oil in America. Size of photo: 10.25" W x 10.25" H (26 cm x 26 cm) Size of matte: 16" W x 20" H (40.6 cm x 50.8 cm)

According to the Library of Congress, "Louise Rosskam (1910-2003) is one of the elusive pioneers of what has been called the golden age of documentary photography. Louise's story provides rare insight into the delicate balance women of her generation had to maintain between the domestic roles for which they were trained and the working world in which they labored. She produced meaningful images but opted to define her professional life largely in terms of her husband, Edwin (1903-1985). Working with him for nearly four decades, Louise photographed for newspapers, magazines, government agencies, corporations, political parties and service projects. The Library of Congress has more than 150 photographs by Louise Rosskam in the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, in sets of photographs sponsored by the Standard Oil Company, and in a small group of images acquired from the photographer herself in 1999. "

This photograph was in the collection of pioneering patron of the arts, Ginny Williams. Sotheby's hosted a series of auctions featuring art and photography in the Ginny Williams Collection in June and July of 2020. Their press release began as follows, "Born in rural Virginia in 1927, Ginny moved to Denver, Colorado in the late 1950s with her husband, Carl Williams. An avid photographer herself, who studied with Austrian-American photojournalist and photographer Ernst Haas, her collecting journey began with classical figurative photography. Her passion and keen eye eventually prompted her to open her namesake gallery in Denver in the 1980s. While her passion for photography never waned, remaining a primary focus of both her gallery and private collection, her voracious curiosity quickly widened her curatorial focus. Over time, Ginny became increasingly courageous and experimental in her selections, venturing into Abstract Expressionism and Contemporary Art and following her artists themselves through gallery shows and museum exhibitions. As the years passed, Ginny became as much of a trailblazer as the artists she collected."

Provenance: private Idledale, Colorado, USA collection; ex-Ginny Williams collection, Denver, Colorado, USA

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#174101

Artist signature on verso with Ginny Williams collection label and label reading "Rosskam Carter Oil Co. / July, '44 / Elk Basin, Wyoming / 12117 Powell, Wyoming. On Main Street." Fit with custom matte with a few light marks that do not affect image. Photograph in excellent overall condition.