Sunami, Koichi. PEGGY BACON. Gelatin Silver photograph, Signed and dated in pencil on the mount, recto, with the photographer's blidstamp on the print, recto, and with his stamped name and address on the mount, verso. 9 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches (photo), 13 3/8 x 10 7/8 inches (mount). Light soiling to the mount, silvering to the image, still in very good condition. Soichi Sunami, 1885-1971, was born in Japan, and came to the US in 1905, living for many years in Seattle, where he studied painting and worked as a photographer. He moved to New York City in 1922, where he worked as an assistant to Nicolas Muray, and studied with John Sloan at the Art Students League. It is likely that he and Peggy Bacon met in Sloan's class, and that this photo dates from the early days of their friendship. Through his associations with artists Sunami had a practice which involved photographing their work. This eventually led to his employment at MoMA, where he photographed thousands of artworks for its archives. Peggy Bacon, American, 1895-1987, was an American painter, printmaker, and caricaturist.
