Rare Van Vchten Portrait: Gish as Ophelia
Portrait photograph of Lillian Gish as Ophelia.
New York: April 12, 1937.
Price: $950.00
About the item
Half-length portrait of the actress seated, in costume by Jo Mielziner. Gelatin silver print. 1 vols. 35.3 x 27.5 cm. (approximately 13-7/8 x 10-7/8 inches). Rare Van Vchten Portrait: Gish as Ophelia. Fine. Docketed in pencil and in ink on verso, giving the name of the sitter "Lillian Gish in The Marquise [sic]", the date of the session, and a reference to negative and print ("XXII - K - 32").
Item #219119
Despite the pencilled note (added later), during the time of this session, the great star of the silent screen was playing Ophelia opposite John Gielgud's Hamlet on Broadway, with Judith Anderson as Gertrude, Harry Matthews as Horatio, et. al., and stage and costume design by Jo Mielziner
RARE AND IMPORTANT IMAGE FROM A HISTORIC PRODUCTION. The extensive collection of Van Vechten photographs in the Library of Congress contains no photographs whatsoever of Lillian Gish, and the mistake in the pencilled note is easily explained by the confusion with another Gish photo session of 10 years later, during which Van Vechten photographed the actress in her role in Noel Coward's "The Marquise."
