Berenice Abbott, 1922

Berenice Abbott worked for Man Ray in 1925 and 1926 as a darkroom assistant, although he made this charming portrait of her some years before, shortly after they both arrived in Paris separately in 1921. The unusual asymmetrical composition, balancing the bright face against the dark shadow of the head, as well as the hands framing the face are motifs Man Ray explored further some five years later in his best-known image, Noire et blanche, Kiki with mask, 1926. This lot comes from a group of Berenice Abbott's vintage prints of her own photographs (lots 309-310) and one of her circa 1930 prints from an Atget negative (lot 308).