HELEN LEVITT (American, b. 1913) NEW YORK, C IR

PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTOR, NEW MEXICO

PROVENANCE
With Prakapas Gallery, NEW YORK, 1978

LITERATURE
Viking, HELEN LEVITT: A WAY OF SEEING, 1965, pl. 50; Phillips & Hambourg, HELEN LEVITT, 1991, pl. 36; Powerhouse Books, HELEN LEVITT: CROSSTOWN, 2001, p. 21

…[BUT] I DO NOT KNOW OF ANY IMAGE SO COMPLETELY ELOQUENT AS THAT IN [PLATE 50], OF ALL THAT IS MOST GRACIOUS, GREAT, AND RESPLENDENT OF WELL-BEING AND OF LOVELINESS, THAT LOVING SERVITUDE CAN MEAN, AND BRING IN BLESSING. NO ONE COULD WRITE, PAINT, ACT, DANCE, OR EMBODY IN MUSIC THE WOMAN'S SHELTERING AND MAGNANIMOUS ARM, OR TILT OF SMILING HEAD, OR BEARING AND WHOLE DEMEANOR; WHICH ARE ALSO BEYOND AND ABOVE ANY JOY OR BEAUTY WHICH A CHILD COULD POSSIBLY EXPERIENCE OR EMBODY. SHE IS AT ONCE THE SWEETNESS OF LIFE AND THE TENDERNESS OF DEATH; THE SOUL VICTORIOUS IN THE BODY'S WORLD; THE SALVATION AND IMMORTALITY OF INNOCENCE.
James Agee, from the foreword to A WAY OF SEEING