Original Albert Witzel 1929 11 x 14 Photo of WILLIAM POWELL Philo Vance

Description: THIS IS AN ORIGINAL ALBERT WITZEL PHOTOGRAPH OF WILLIAM POWELL ON 11 X 14 PAPER. The main photo is very low resolution because I really don't want anyone copying and uploading it. - THE REAR OF THE PHOTOGRAPH HAS THE ALBERT WITZEL STAMP (PHOTO 2) AS WELL AS THE STATEMENT "William Powell Exclusive". (PHOTO 3) Also includes "#1 W.P". The W.P is William Powell. Is the #1 the first shot taken that day or is it the first copy made? (I don't have the answer for that but I would bet someone does.) FOR A GOOD IMAGE OF THE PHOTO, PLEASE LOOK AT (PHOTO 5, 6 & 7), WHICH REFLECT THE ENTIRE PHOTO. I HAVE SEEN MANY PHOTOS OF WILLIAM POWELL BUT I HAVE NEVER SEEN THIS ONE. He is wearing like a polka dotted shirt. - THE WITZEL-HOLLYWOOD SIGNATURE IS IN THE PLATE AND NOT ON THE SURFACE OF THE PRINT. (PHOTO 8) - THE IMAGE ITSELF IS IN EXCELLENT CONDITION, WITH SOME BOWING TO THE PAPER (PHOTO 4). THE WHITE BORDERS HAVE MINOR EDGE WEAR (PHOTO 4,7,9). THE WEIRD CLOUDY APPEARANCE BEHIND POWELL'S HEAD IS PART OF THE BACKGROUND AND IS NOT DAMAGE TO THE PHOTO (PHOTO 4 & 5 & 9). I found no cracks in the surface of the image and no damage to the emulsion. Someone took care of this print. - THE REAR OF THE PHOTOGRAPH HAS CLEAR TAPE AROUND THE EDGES WHERE IT HAD BEEN ATTACHED TO A MAT (PHOTO 13). I removed the photograph from the frame to determine whether or not it had the Albert Witzel stamp and it does. As I love the photograph and the frame is completely adequate, I put the photo back into the frame using linen hinging tape that attaches to the rear of the photograph only where the clear tape is (PHOTO 14 & 15), so I am not adding to the problem. I then put acid free tissue between the photo and the heavy board I used to keep the bowed print in place (PHOTO 16) - Rather than redo the brown paper on the rear, I copied the prior owner and just scotch taped the brown paper back into place to keep the dust out (PHOTO 17). - THE OUTER DIMENSIONS OF THE FRAME ARE 12.5" X 17" - I did a bit of research through the films of Powell and he did not begin to look like this until late 1928. Maybe in the film "Interference" he looked a bit like this but THE CANARY MURDER CASE is where he really started to have this appearance in terms of hair length and moustache length and style. - THE CANARY MURDER CASE was released in April 1929 and Witzel had died by the end of May 1929, resulting in the immediate closure of his studios. That leaves a very tight window for this photograph to have been taken. In my opinion, there would be no reason to go out and get exclusive images from Albert Witzel unless there had been a big change in the career arc and, let's be serious, playing PHILO VANCE was a major break for Powell. - This film also had Louise Brooks and Jean Arthur. - This film was the biggest break of Powell's career as he had previously almost always played villain roles. MY BIGGEST QUESTION IS WAS WAS MEANT BY "EXCLUSIVE". Was the photo made for the studio? Most photos were and they were not treated as "exclusive". Was this photo made specifically for William Powell? I would love to think that Powell owned this at some point but I have no support for this. (In the end, there was likely a photo that had an original signature by Witzel out there. He likely only signed one but who knows if it survived and how many additional prints were made.) All that I can say is that Google has no image that matches this in its massive image library. I have never seen this photo before and it leads me to think that "exclusive" meant "exclusive". So, I love William Powell, and right now, this photo stands to the left of a much larger actual photograph I have of Jean Harlow, so they should be happy together even if Powell has decided to turn away from her. THE 11" X 14" FORMAT IS UNCOMMON. Someone payed EXTRA for this. It is a fantastic photo of Powell just as his career was about to explode, likely while he was just beginning to hook up with Carole Lombard. I know that most of the world does not care about William Powell but I do. As one of the best photos ever taken of him, I will be demanding. I also am taking minor efforts to prevent copying. I am sure that someone can fix it but I used very low resolution in the photos I have not watermarked.

Price: 389 USD

Location: East Norwich, New York

End Time: 2024-09-21T22:47:04.000Z

Shipping Cost: N/A USD