Lot 206: Pierre Dubreuil , 1872-1944 'titan du ciel' (aviator)

oil print, the photographer's monogram and date and numbered '3/5' in an unidentified hand on the image, mounted, titled by the photographer in pencil on the mount, signed, titled, numbered '20.,' and annotated 'M. S. L. P.' by the photographer in ink and pencil and with a red 'DB69' stamp, on the reverse, matted, 1929

measurements note 8 1/8 by 7 3/4 in. (20.6 by 19.7 cm.)

Sotheby's New York, 5 October 1994, Sale 6599, Lot 40Acquired by the present owner from the above

It is believed that this print of Titan du Ciel, also known as The Aviator, is one of only three prints of the image extant. Another print, originally given by photographer Max Thorek to the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, was sold in these rooms on 11 October 2005 (Sale 8115, Lot 111). During Dubreuil's lifetime, Titan du Ciel was exhibited in the retrospective of his work at the Royal Photographic Society, London, in 1935. It was also included in the two major modern Dubreuil exhibitions: Pierre Dubreuil, Photographs 1896 - 1935 at the Musée d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, in 1987; and Pierre Dubreuil Rediscovered, at The Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, in 1988, and traveling to Alliance Française, New York, and The Detroit Institute of Arts, in 1989-90.