25-171 Original 1979 Photograph Willie Anne Wright 25 x 19

Original Cibachrome print by Willie Anne Wright (American, b. 1924),  titled ”Group with Matisse Towel, Nag’s Head, N.C.” 1979. 25 x 19 inches as custom framed in matte black wood.

A pinhole photo is an image created using a simple, lensless camera: a light-proof box with a tiny hole on one side and a piece of photographic film on the opposite side. The technique was invented in the 1850s.

Wright is a renowned American artist and photographer recognized for her experimental approach, using techniques like cibachrome paper for color prints and creating images with a distinct, soft-focus, and sometimes whimsical quality. Wright’s work is held by the Smithsonian, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Chrysler Museum of Art, and the New Orleans Museum of Art. In 2023, the VMFA organized a major retrospective of her work titled “Willie Anne Wright: Artist and Alchemist,” celebrating her extensive six-decade career and her contributions to alternative photographic processes.

Cibachrome is a rare and discontinued photographic printing process known for its vibrant, fade-resistant, and high-gloss color prints made from positive transparencies.

The towel in this photograph is a crude reworking of “Nu Rose” 1935 by Henri Matisse. The painting hangs in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.