Soichi Sunami (1885–1971) / Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) - Baby in Red Chair, c. 1810-1830
Soichi Sunami (1885–1971) / Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) - Baby in a red chair, c. 1810-1830
From the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Collection; Gift of David Rockefeller
gelatin silver print
Photo size: 24 x 16.8 cm
c. 1950/1960
Annotation and stamps on reverse
Condition very good - all imperfections exactly as seen on the scan
Soichi Sunami (角南 壮一, 1885–1971) was a Japanese and American modernist photographer, influenced by the pictorialist movement, and best known for his portraits of early modern dancers, including Ruth St Denis, Agnes De Mille, Helen Tamiris and Martha Graham, with whom he maintained an extended artistic collaboration. He produced some of the only known images of the early black modern dancer, Edna Guy, and also photographed the modern dancer Harald Kreutzberg.
For nearly forty years (from 1930 until 1968) he was the main archival photographer at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City,[4] a position that helped him avoid internment during World War II. His friends and admirers included artist Natalie Hays Hammond and MoMA founder Abby Aldrich Rockefeller.
Exhibitions
Starting on October 11, 2018, Cascadia Art Museum of Edmonds, Washington, staged "Invocation of Beauty: The Life and Photography of Soichi Sunami," one of the first major retrospectives of Sunami's work since his death. It was accompanied by a new book by art historian David F. Martin. Starting on November 30, 2018, a second retrospective of Sunami's work took place at the Cultural Arts Center in Columbus, Ohio, as part of "Generations of Art: The Sunami Family," a group show also featuring work by Sunami family members John, Jennifer and April, and great-grandson River Soichi Sunami. The opening reception also featured a rare, authorized recreation of an original Graham dance, Heretic, as performed by the Columbus Modern Dance Company, as well as music by grandson Christopher (as performed by musicians from the Columbus Symphony Orchestra).