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Evelyn Hofer , German, 1922-2009

Title

Portrait of Mary Lavin, 1966

Date2019

MediumModern gelatin silver print

Dimensions

Sheet: 50.8 x 40.4 cm

Image: 37.6 x 29.5 cm

Credit LinePresented, Estate of Evelyn Hofer, 2019

Object numberNGI.2019.233

DescriptionGerman-American documentary and portrait photographer, Evelyn Hofer spent her early years studying photography, eventually landing a role working for Alexey Brodovitch of Harper's Bazaar when she moved to New York in 1946. Hofer used a four-by-five-inch view camera to make orderly and well-constructed portraits and scenic photographs. Hofer visited Dublin in 1966 to capture scenes of everyday life, which informed her book 'Dublin: A Portrait' (1967) made in collaboration with author V.S. Pritchett. In colour and black and white, her work depicts Ireland at the tipping point between an older, more conservative culture and the emerging modern world. Hofer is represented by 3 dye-transfer prints; 4 silver gelatin prints and 3 digital prints of Dublin and Irish literary figures in the NGI collection.

Hofer made this portrait of Mary Lavin (1912-1996) in Dublin in 1966. Lavin was a notable Irish short story writer and novelist. She is regarded as a pioneering female author in the traditionally male-dominated world of Irish letters. Born in Massachusetts of Irish parents in 1912, Lavin first visited Ireland at the age of four with her mother Nora. She would return, permanently this time, five years later.

Inscriptionon verso (in pencil): Mary Lavin
ProvenancePresented, Estate of Evelyn Hofer, through Galerie m, Bochum, Germany, 2019