F. HOLLAND DAY (1864-1933)

Details
F. HOLLAND DAY (1864-1933)

Records Of Events At Little Good Harbor

4 volumes of tipped in silver, platinum and cyanotype photographs, by F. Holland Day and others. Volume I: 1910-1912; Volume II: 1912-1913; Volume III: 1913-1915 and Volume IV: 1916-circa 1920. The first volume titled in pencil with hand lettering on the opening page. Many captioned and dated beneath the prints or on the verso. Various sizes; the majority 2 3/8 x 3 3/8in or the reverse.

Lot Essay

Day's home at Little Good Harbor in Maine became the center of his summer social and artistic life between 1910 and 1920. With the inheritance of his father's wealth, Day found himself in the position to purchase the property. It belonged to his long time friend, Louise Guiney who purchased the land originally for its inspirational resemblance to Devonshire, recalling the work of English Symbolist poets. According to Estelle Jussim in Slave To Beauty, the landscape was to provide Day with the surroundings to fulfill his fantasies on film.

The albums document the construction of his home there and the social life that surrounded the retreat. Clarence White and Gertude Käsebier summered nearby and took advantage of the setting for their work as well. Even Clarence White fell under the spell of Day's classicism that first summer in Maine. White produced some of his lovliest pictures at Little Good Harbor, including The Pipes of Pan, The Archer, The Wrestlers and Nude Boy at Bridge. (Slave to Beauty, p. 168)

The albums obsessively reveal the life at Little Good Harbor. Jussim also describes how Day documented the various construction projects and makes note of the existence of these albums. In taking this series, he frequently attempted panoramic views and his scrapbooks were filled with carefully matching prints glued together to show the entire operational theatre. (Slave to Beauty, p. 190)

Day continued to visit his beloved home on the water until around 1917 when he began to spend less time there, apparently for health reasons. Eventually he sold the Maine house and property to old acquaintances. The house changed hands once more in 1987 when the albums were rediscovered, having stayed within the home for the last 60 years.