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ELEANOR PARKE CUSTIS 1897-1983 Penguins Three, 1939 Gelatin silver print. 17 x 14 in. (43.2 x 35.6 cm) Titled, dated in pencil within the artist’s ‘626 East Capitol Street’ credit stamp and annotated ‘exhibited Smithsonian, 1947’ in an unidentified hand in pencil on the verso.
Estimate $ 3 , 0 0 0 - 5 , 0 0 0 PROVENANCE
Sotheby’s, New York, 7 April 1998, lot 87 Private Collection, New York LITERATURE
Peterson, After the Photo-Secession: American Pictorial Photography, 1910-1955, p. 37
Eleanor Parke Custis was the granddaughter of Martha Washington, who, after being widowed by Daniel Parker Custis, married George Washington. Her interest in the arts began as a painter. Following her training at the Corcoran School of Art, Custis devoted herself to painting from 1924 to 1935. Her subject matter was largely of nautical scenes with which she would have been familiar through her upbringing in Cape Ann, Massachusetts. In 1935, after achieving success with a solo exhibition at the Washington Art Club and by gaining membership in a number of prestigious art societies and clubs, Custis focused solely on photography. Throughout her life, Custis participated in countless photography exhibitions, served as a juror for many photographic salons, and authored numerous books and articles on the medium, Penguins Three, 1939, was exhibited at The Smithsonian Institute in 1947. At the time of Custis’s passing, this was the only print of this image in her estate, and is believed to be unique in this size.
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