Three Girls, One Reclining, Dahomey

1967, printed 1972

Irving Penn

Associated Names
Irving Penn

Artist, American, 1917 - 2009

The image depicts three women, each shown from the waist up. The woman at the back stands slightly to the left, with one hand on her hip and the other resting on the shoulder of the woman to her right. She gazes directly at the camera. Her hair is covered by a patterned head wrap. The second woman is seated in the middle, turned slightly towards the left, looking directly at the camera. She is wearing a large patterned head wrap adorned with small, square patches. The third woman is lying across the lap of the seated woman, supporting her head with her hand and looking straight at the viewer. Her head is wrapped with a plain cloth. All three women have noticeable markings on their upper bodies and cheeks. They wear patterned, striped cloths wrapped around their waists and various jewelry pieces. In the background, there is a plain, light-colored backdrop.
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Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Mary and Dan Solomon; purchase and gift to NGA, 2006.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1974

  • Penn, Irving. Worlds in a Small Room by Irving Penn. New York, 1974.

1991

  • Callaway, Nicolas. Irving Penn: Passage, a Work Record. New York, 1991.

Inscriptions

on verso, artist's stamp, center left in grey ink: PHOTOGRAPH BY IRVING PENN / Copyright © 1967 by Irving Penn / Not to be reproduced without / written permission of the / copyright owner and / THE CONDE NAST PUBLICATIONS INC.; stamped, center right in grey ink: In addition to 35 numbered prints of this image / in platinum metals, unnumbered, but signed, silver / prints not exceeding a total of 15 may exist.; stamped, center in black ink: Deacidified to pH 8.5-9.5; label, center typed: 3 Dahomey Girls (1) / Photograph by Irving Penn / Copyright © 1967 by / Irving Penn / Not to be reproduced without written / permission of the copyright owner.; stamped, center in grey ink: Hand-coated by the photographer; by artist's hand, center in graphite: 13/35 [circled] 12 [circled] / Wiggins teape paper on aluminum / multiple coating and printing / 1 [circled] platinum / 2 [circled] platinum-palladium / print made Summer 1972 / Irving Penn [circled]

Wikidata ID

Q64155399

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