Katharine Cornell Vintage Photo Broadway Theatre Actress Barretts Wimpole Street For Sale

I\'m Jim Camp, the guy behind the synaesthesia press. I\'m a letterpress printer, a publisher of limited-edition books and broadsides, and a lifelong book collector. I\'ve been at this for close to 40 years, and most of what I\'m offering here has lived on my shelves for decades. Now it\'s time for these books to move on to new homes. When one finds its way to your shelf, it\'ll arrive quickly, securely packed, and with no extra fees for shipping or handling. Oh, and don\'t be afraid to make an offer!Offering: Katharine Cornell in Theatrical Costume. Ca. 1930s–1940s. Vintage sepia-toned photographic portrait, approximately 9 × 11 inches (22.9 × 27.9 cm), mounted to heavy black board.Very Good. Vintage sepia-toned photographic portrait, approximately 9 × 11 inches (22.9 × 27.9 cm), mounted to heavy black board. Light overall toning and surface wear, with minor edge and corner wear. Period handwritten identification “actress Cornell” in blue pencil at upper left and perforated identification at lower right. Mount remains sound.A striking theatrical portrait of Katharine Cornell (1893–1974), one of the commanding figures of the twentieth-century American stage. Cornell is photographed in elaborate period costume—pearls, jeweled bodice, fur-trimmed sleeves and braided hair—with both hands framing her face in an unusually expressive, almost modern composition. Known as the “First Lady of the Theatre,” Cornell built her reputation through serious drama rather than Hollywood, with celebrated performances in The Barretts of Wimpole Street, Romeo and Juliet, Saint Joan, Antony and Cleopatra and The Constant Wife. She was also a producer and theater owner whose company with husband Guthrie McClintic helped bring numerous important actors to Broadway.That stage-centered career makes the photograph particularly evocative. Cornell largely resisted Hollywood—her only feature-film appearance was as herself in the 1943 wartime picture Stage Door Canteen—and her surviving imagery belongs overwhelmingly to the world of Broadway portraiture and theatrical publicity rather than movie-star machinery. Here the unidentified costume almost becomes secondary to the pose: the enormous hands, upward gaze, jewelry and tightly composed face create an image that feels less like routine publicity than a portrait of an actress completely conscious of gesture.

A wonderful portrait of American theater royalty—and an image with enough drama that you don\'t need to know which curtain was about to rise.

My best pieces never sit around for long, so click the heart on my store page to save me as a seller. I\'m also the publisher behind thesynaesthesia press, known for its limited-edition books and broadsides, so when you buy here you\'re buying from a collector and letterpress printer who\'s been at this longer than I\'d like to admit.
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