Jack Welpott - Elle se lave, 1973 – Épreuve argentique signée – Collection Lucien

Vintage silver gelatin print on board, signed in pencil at lower right, countersigned, titled and dated on the verso, bearing the photographer’s stamp. Provenance: Lucien Clergue collection, according to the original sale catalogue. Sold with its museum-style wooden frame.

An intimate scene, a remarkable composition:

In She Washes, Jack Welpott photographs a woman from behind, leaning over a double sink. The two oval mirrors, patterned wallpaper and draped armchair in the foreground create a particularly rich interior.

The light shapes the body and structures the contrasts in the print. An everyday scene becomes a composition in which the nude, the objects and the space interact with great precision.

Jack Welpott, photographer and teacher:

American photographer Jack Welpott (1923–2007) studied with Henry Holmes Smith before teaching for thirty-three years at San Francisco State University. His female nudes are among his best-known works. His approach places great emphasis on light, composition and the relationships between the model and her surroundings. He received the Arles Medal in 1973, the year this photograph was taken.

Recognition in public collections:

His official website lists his works in the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Musée Réattu in Arles. These references concern the photographer’s work and do not mean that this specific image is held by each of these institutions.

The appeal of this example:

This example combines a print described as vintage in the original catalogue, a signature on the front, inscriptions on the verso and the photographer’s stamp.

Its stated provenance, the Lucien Clergue collection, is of particular interest to a photography collector. It places this object in the orbit of another major photographer, closely associated with the photographic history of Arles.

Specifications:

Photographer: Jack Welpott (1923–2007).
Title: She Washes.
Inscribed date: 1973.
Technique: vintage silver gelatin print on board, according to the original catalogue.
Unframed dimensions: 27.5 × 35 cm, according to the same catalogue.
Signature: in pencil, at lower right.
Verso: countersignature, title, date and photographer’s stamp.
Provenance: Lucien Clergue collection, according to the original sale catalogue.
Framing: wooden frame included in the sale.

Condition:

A crease and handling marks are visible in the lower-right margin. The detail photographs allow the condition of the paper, margins and frame to be assessed; they form an integral part of the description.

Presentation and shipping:

The work is sold with its frame, in a restrained presentation that showcases the black-and-white print.

It will be shipped with careful packaging, reinforced protection for the corners and glazing, rigid packing and tracked delivery.


Sale catalogue “Photographies Arles: Collection Lucien Clergue,” Alpilles Camargue Enchères, for the description of the print, its inscriptions, dimensions and provenance.