Aaron Siskind
(American, 1903-1991)
Tennessee, 1951
gelatin silver print laid to masonite
signed, titled and dated verso
16 5/8" x 12 1/4"

Provenance:
Collection of Richard Nickel, Chicago, Illinois
Thence by descent to nieces, Nancy Nickel and Susan Nickel Brunson

Catalog Note:
Richard Nickel became a student of Aaron Siskind at Chicago's Institute of Design in 1952. Siskind soon became Richard's creative mentor, which evolved into a lifelong friendship. In the early years, Siskind was generous in sharing his photographic prints with friends and those who assisted him. Nickel retained his early gifts from Siskind until his death in 1972. During the 1950s, Siskind, Nickel and other photographers at the Institute of Design often chose to display their works as frameless floating panels with the images cropped to the edges and held out from the wall with concealed wood blocking attached to the back. Without protective glass and frames, many became damaged or lost over the years. Nickel kept his Siskind panels in the safety of a wooden wardrobe in the bedroom of his home. An unmounted Siskind print of peeling posters was given a protective glass covering and displayed over his bed. These Siskind prints were retained by the Nickel family until consigned to this auction. -- Tim Samuelson, Cultural Historian for the City of Chicago, 2019

Unframed. Vintage print. Perimeter edges lifting off masonite in localized areas. Cracking to emulsion of 1/8" on right and left sides, primarily right. Bottom right corner emulsion liting from paper, 1" on bottom, and 1 1/4" on right edge. Localized emulsion loss bottom middle and top left. Various localized dents and scratches throughout.