The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of November 28, 2023

June Leaf, Sculptress, Mabou Mines, Nova Scotia, July 18, 1975

1975

Richard Avedon

(American, 1923–2004)

America, 20th century

Gelatin silver print

Image: 24.4 x 19.4 cm (9 5/8 x 7 5/8 in.); Paper: 25.2 x 20.1 cm (9 15/16 x 7 15/16 in.)

Gift of Diann G. Mann and Thomas A. Mann 2019.32

© The Richard Avedon Foundation

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

Richard Avedon and author James Baldwin were friends in high school and worked together on the school newspaper.

Description

Richard Avedon’s distinctive portrait style involved photographing sitters against a plain light background. They face front, engaging directly with the photographer. Leaf, an artist married to the photographer Robert Frank, is aware of self-presentation. She has chosen to be photographed without makeup or pretension. Her arms shield her body, but she gazes directly and openly at us. The resulting image conveys the artist’s natural beauty and strong character.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Stamped in black ink on verso: “Richard Avedon warrants and represents that, aside/from the signed and numbered photographs in these/series, (Marlborough Gallery, 9-10-75) no other orig-/inal prints of these photographs will be made by him/or under his authority except for a limited number of/prints made solely in connection with museum ex-/hibitions./This original photograph may not be reproduced, by/this or any subsequent purchaser without written/permission of the photographer./Copyright © 1975 by Richard Avedon/All Rights Reserved./neg. no: 156 (written in black marker)/edition of 50 (written in black marker) number 11 (written in black marker)/June Leaf, sculptress/Mabou Mines, Nova Scotia, 7-18-75”

Inscription

Written in black marker on verso: “Avedon (signed)”

Inscription

Commercially imprinted throughout verso of paper: “Agfa”

Provenance
February 16, 2006
Sotheby's, New York, NY
2006-2019
Thomas A. and Diann G. Mann, Palm Beach Gardens, FL
March 4, 2019
the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Harold Brodkey, Avedon Photographs: 1947-1977, Farrar Strauss & Giroux, New York, 1987 pl. 162
Avedon, Richard, and Anne Hollander. Woman in the Mirror. New York: H.N. Abrams, 2005. p. 167
Avedon, Richard, Michael Juul Holm, and Helle Crenzien. Richard Avedon Photographs, 1946-2004. Humlebæk, Denmark: Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2007. pl. 125
Christie, Manson & Woods International Inc. An American Journey: The Diann G. and Thomas A. Mann Collection of Photographic Masterworks. 2018.
Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2019.32