Lot 26: DAVID MARTIN HEATH

THE FACE OF MODERNISM: A PRIVATE WEST COAST COLLECTION
NYC
Signed in ink in the margin; titled and dated in pencil on the verso.

11 x 8 in. (27.9 x 20.3 cm)

Gelatin silver print.

circa 1960

Heath, <em>A Dialogue with Solitude</em>, pl. 79

Simon Lowinsky Gallery, San Francisco
Private Collection, New York

David Martin Heath&#8217;s interest in photography was sparked in part by reading a book about photographic techniques, <em>Photography is a Language</em>, published in 1946. Later, under the mentorship of Robert Frank and W. Eugene Smith, Heath began taking candid snapshots of strangers whom he encountered outdoors. Unstaged portraits, the images are earnest and unfeigned. In <em>NYC</em>, circa 1960, the determination in the man&#8217;s facial expression reveals his protective instinct towards the child; his tight embrace reveals an intimacy between the two. We are made to feel that the child is his and that their bond is impenetrable.