Herman Polk Sold at Auction Prices

b. 1898 - d. 1985

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    • Prentice Herman Polk, 1898-1984, Lot of two works, Silver gelatin prints
      Nov. 14, 2020

      Prentice Herman Polk, 1898-1984, Lot of two works, Silver gelatin prints

      Est: $3,000 - $4,000

      Prentice Herman Polk 1898-1984 Lot of two works Silver gelatin prints Includes: George Washington Carver, 1938 (printed c. 1980) silver gelatin print 10 x 8 inches signed Man and Ox, 1932 (printed c. 1980) silver gelatin print 14 x 11 inches Prentice Polk was born in Bessemer, Alabama. He studied photography at the Tuskegee Institute (1916-1920) with C.M. Battey and apprenticed with Fred Jensen in Chicago, Illinois (1922-1926). Jensen charged Polk $2.50 an hour and Polk was making $5.00 a day. Polk went door to door soliciting commissions for pictures of the neighborhood kids. That was a rough job during the Chicago winters, so he returned to Tuskegee in 1927 and opened his first studio. A year later he was hired to the faculty at Tuskegee Institute, and from 1933-1938 was the Head of the Photography Department. His work was exhibited at Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Atlanta University, Birmingham Museum of Art, California Museum of African American Art, Emory University, The Studio Museum in Harlem, Tuskegee Institute, and the New York Museum of National History. Polk worked at Tuskegee from the late 1920s through the 1960s, capturing the significant cast of visitors to the school over the years on film. He also created more than 500 negatives of Dr. George Washington Carver at Tuskegee. REF: P.H. Polk, Pearl Cleage Lomax (essay), 1980.

      Black Art Auction
    • Prentice Herman Polk, 1898-1984, Lot of two works, Silver gelatin prints
      Nov. 14, 2020

      Prentice Herman Polk, 1898-1984, Lot of two works, Silver gelatin prints

      Est: $3,000 - $4,000

      Prentice Herman Polk 1898-1984 Lot of two works Silver gelatin prints Includes: Young Boy on the Steps, c. 1930 silver gelatin print 10 x 8 inches signed inscribed verso, "made 1927" Portrait of Phil Rowell, 1932 (printed c. 1980) silver gelatin print 10 x 8 inches Prentice Polk was born in Bessemer, Alabama. He studied photography at the Tuskegee Institute (1916-1920) with C.M. Battey and apprenticed with Fred Jensen in Chicago, Illinois (1922-1926). Jensen charged Polk $2.50 an hour and Polk was making $5.00 a day. Polk went door to door soliciting commissions for pictures of the neighborhood kids. That was a rough job during the Chicago winters, so he returned to Tuskegee in 1927 and opened his first studio. A year later he was hired to the faculty at Tuskegee Institute, and from 1933-1938 was the Head of the Photography Department. His work was exhibited at Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Atlanta University, Birmingham Museum of Art, California Museum of African American Art, Emory University, The Studio Museum in Harlem, Tuskegee Institute, and the New York Museum of National History. Polk worked at Tuskegee from the late 1920s through the 1960s, capturing the significant cast of visitors to the school over the years on film. He also created more than 500 negatives of Dr. George Washington Carver at Tuskegee. REF: P.H. Polk, Pearl Cleage Lomax (essay), 1980.

      Black Art Auction
    • P. (PRENTICE) HERMAN POLK (1898 - 1985) A Portfolio of 11 Original Photographs.
      Oct. 05, 2017

      P. (PRENTICE) HERMAN POLK (1898 - 1985) A Portfolio of 11 Original Photographs.

      Est: $8,000 - $12,000

      P. (PRENTICE) HERMAN POLK (1898 - 1985) A Portfolio of 11 Original Photographs. Portfolio with 11 silver prints, 1932-1946. Each 279x356 mm; 11x14 inches (sheet), loose as issued. Edition of 60 numbered copies. Each signed in ink, lower right. Signed and numbered 19/60 on the title page of the introduction. Published by South Light, Gladewater, Texas in 1981. Titles include: Old Women, 1932 * The Boss, 1932 * The Pipe Smoker, 1932 * Henry Baker, 1932 * Margaret Blanche Polk, 1946 * Mildred Hansen Baker, 1937 * Theodore and Cornelius Polk, 1936 * Mr. & Mrs. T.M. Campbell & children, 1932 * George Washington Carver, circa 1930 * Catherine Moton Patterson, 1936 * Abigail Kyzer, 1933. In the original maroon fabric covered clamshell box and with the introductory essay signed by the author, Pearl Cleage Lomax.

      Swann Auction Galleries
    • P. (PRENTICE) HERMAN POLK (1898 - 1985) A Portfolio of 11 Original Photographs.
      Oct. 06, 2016

      P. (PRENTICE) HERMAN POLK (1898 - 1985) A Portfolio of 11 Original Photographs.

      Est: $8,000 - $12,000

      P. (PRENTICE) HERMAN POLK (1898 - 1985) A Portfolio of 11 Original Photographs. Portfolio with 11 silver prints, 1932-1946. Each 279x356 mm; 11x14 inches (sheet), loose as issued. Edition of 60 numbered copies. Each signed in ink, lower right. Signed and numbered 18/60 on the title page of the introduction. Published by South Light, Gladewater, Texas in 1981. Titles include: Old Women, 1932 * The Boss, 1932 * The Pipe Smoker, 1932 * Henry Baker, 1932 * Margaret Blanche Polk, 1946 * Mildred Hansen Baker, 1937 * Theodore and Cornelius Polk, 1936 * Mr. & Mrs. T.M. Campbell & children, 1932 * George Washington Carver, circa 1930 * Catherine Moton Patterson, 1936 * Abigail Kyzer, 1933. In the original maroon fabric covered clamshell box and with the introductory essay signed by the author, Pearl Cleage Lomax.

      Swann Auction Galleries
    • P. (PRENTICE) HERMAN POLK (1898 - 1985) Mildred Hanson Baker.
      Oct. 06, 2016

      P. (PRENTICE) HERMAN POLK (1898 - 1985) Mildred Hanson Baker.

      Est: $2,000 - $3,000

      P. (PRENTICE) HERMAN POLK (1898 - 1985) Mildred Hanson Baker. Silver print, 1937. 203x254 mm; 8x10 inches. Signed in ball point pen and ink, lower left. Printed by the artist likely in the 1970s. Provenance: acquired directly from the artist (1979); private collection, Montgomery, AL. The owner, a life-long resident of Montgomery, was a friend of the artist who visited his residence and studio at the Tuskegee Institute beginning in 1979. Another print of this photograph is in the Paul R. Jones collection, Atlanta, GA, and is illustrated in Deborah Willis' Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers, 1840 to Present. Willis p. 71, fig. 81.

      Swann Auction Galleries
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