Irving Penn (1917-2009) 'Four Guedras (Morocco)', 1971 Platinum-palladium print, printed 1985; flush-mounted to aluminum, signed, initialed, titled, dated, annotated extensively, numbered '3341', and editioned '11/18' in pencil, and the photographer's credit, Conde Nast Publications copyright/reproduction rights, 'Hand-coated by the photographer', and 'Deacidified' stamps, all on the reverse, framed. 23 x 19 3/4 in. (58.4 x 50.2 cm.) sheet 24 7/8 x 22 in. (63.2 x 55.9 cm.) Footnotes: Provenance Hamiltons Gallery, London Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1994 Literature cf. Irving Penn, Worlds in a Small Room (New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1974), p. 82 Maria Morris Hambourg and Jeff L. Rosenheim, Irving Penn: Centennial (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2017), pl. 153 Note In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Irving Penn periodically traveled around the globe to make field portraits in destinations stretching from Nepal to New Guinea. At each location, he erected his portable tent studio that provided a neutral, intimate space for staging and taking photographs. Penn visited the Moroccan town of Goulimine (now Guelmim) in 1971. Located on the northern edge of the Sahara Desert, its commerce has historically catered to desert travelers seeking provisions as well as amusement, such as the alluring female guedra dancers who belong to nomadic desert tribes in Southern Morocco, Mauritania, and Algeria. In the present work, Penn captured a quartet of guedras wearing their traditional black veils that are just sheer enough to reveal glimpses of their shimmering adornments and jewels hidden beneath their coverings. In his 1974 book, Worlds in a Small Room, Penn explained their performative art: 'It is said that the dance has its roots in a very ancient cultural ceremony, a symbolism that has been lost in time. In the dance itself a mysterious woman appears kneeling and totally covered by her black veil. A rhythm is tapped on a skin-covered terra cotta drum as the dancer begins to emerge from her covering. Her head gets free. To the sound of brief guttural cries the dancer gradually loses her veil, strips herself, and finally swoons.' (p. 82) Penn also described how this portrait came into existence: 'We invited these mysterious guedra women to pose for us. They came in all shapes, sizes, colors, and ages. . . Those chosen sat, eyes fixed on the lens, enjoying the camera's scrutiny yet themselves impenetrable, unhurried during the considerable time we spent together. The time I took with them as subjects gave dignity to their calling in the eyes of townspeople who passed by. They are on film. What is revealed is no more than these mysterious creatures meant us to know.' (p. 81) Another platinum palladium print of Four Guedras from the same edition of 18 as the present work is in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2020.314.5), gifted by The Irving Penn Foundation in 2020. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing