Through his association with Gallery 291, Paul Strand was exposed to the work of sculptors Brancusi, Lachaise, Rodin, Matisse and Picasso which trained his eye to notice how sculptural forms imposed a presence and influenced the surrounding space through either isolation or integration. Strand struggled with these same issues-the synergy of mass, volume and space-in his photographic landscape and architectural studies of the 1920s-30s. His intent was to develop photographic and processing techniques that would liberate the 3-dimensional forms from the 2-dimensional plane. One finishing technique Strand incorporated to increase the perception of depth in the image, was the application of lacquer to the surface of the print- a technique used on this print.
There are probably no more than 3 silver prints of this image in this format.