IRVING PENN (born 1917)

Details

IRVING PENN (born 1917)

Three Women of Rissani, Morocco (1971)

Multiple-printed and hand-coated platinum-palladium print on Rives
paper with aluminum backing. 1978. Signed, titled, dated, edition
number in pencil, credit and copyright stamps on the reverse of the
mount. Number 12/32 in platinum metals. 21 5/8 x 19½in.

Literature

Irving Penn, pl. 93; Worlds in a Small Room, p. 79.

Lot Essay

Penn's account of these desert arabs is that they are completely
covered in black, except for one eye peeking through a small opening
in the draping. They are desert Arabs who probably walked miles through the Ziz River valley to the souk of Rissani to sell jewels and baskets. One woman holds three loaves of flat, round peasant bread. The Arab women are very timid about posing. It is said that they feel the camera is an evil eye that can steal the soul.

This image has never appeared at auction.