Lot 8: Johan Hagemeyer (1884-1962) Magnolia Blossom

Johan Hagemeyer (1884-1962)
Magnolia Blossom, 1925Gelatin silver exhibition print, virtually flush-mounted; signed in pencil on the secondary mount; 'Hollywood' stamp on the secondary mount verso.7 3/8 x 9in (18.7 x 22.9cm)primary mount 7 3/8 x 9 1/8in (18.7 x 23.4cm)secondary mount 14 x 18in (35.5 x 45.3cm)

Provenance: Christie's, New York, April 26, 2005, lot 149Johan Hagemeyer began his working life as a fruit farmer until an introduction to Anne Brigman by Alfred Stieglitz in 1916 prompted him to change direction and open his first portrait studio in Berkeley, California and, the following year, another in Carmel. Other local art-photographers such as Imogen Cunningham, Tina Modotti, and Edward Weston became close friends and mentors. However, despite Weston's influence, Hagemeyer chose not to join the influential Group f.64, whose common goal was to create works that were sharply defined, carefully framed and promoted a new Modernist aesthetic in the American west. Hagemeyer continued to go his own way. creating and exhibiting his very particular elegant Pictorialist photographs until illness and financial problems overcame him.This rare image of a magnolia flower, a sublime and thoughtful botanical close-up that reflects Hagemeyer's early horticutural training, established the second-highest price for the artist at auction when it sold at Christie's in 2005.