Moody 1940s Vintage Ernest A. Bachrach Gregory Peck Large Dramatic Photograph




Item History & Price

Information:
Reference Number: Avaluer:588408Size: 11" x 14"
Modified Item: NoSubject: Gregory Peck
Country/Region of Manufacture: United StatesPhotographer: Ernest A. Bachrach
Original/Reproduction: Original
Original Description:


Thanks to all our eBay bidders! We are honored to be your one-stop, 5-star source for vintage pin up, pulp magazines, original illustration art, decorative collectibles and ephemera with a wide and always changing assortment of antique and vintage items from the Victorian, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and Mid-Century Modern eras. All items are 100% guaranteed to be original, vintage, and as described. Please feel free to contact us with any and all questions about the items and our p...olicies and please take a moment to peruse our other great eBay listings. All sell no reserve!

ITEM: This is a 1940s vintage and original, large format gelatin silver photograph composed and hand printed by RKO Radio Pictures photographer Ernest A. Bachrach of Golden Age of Hollywood actor and iconic film star Gregory Peck. This is an exquisite example of the era's moodily glamorous and sophisticated style that dramatically captures Peck seated in a wooden chair, staring down lost in contemplation, and smoking a cigarette. A fantastic Hollywood Regency portrait! This photo is accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity from Estate Lots LLC.

One of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck received five Academy Award for Best Actor nominations, and won once – for his performance as Atticus Finch in the 1962 drama film To Kill a Mockingbird. U.S. President Lyndon Johnson honored Peck with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969 for his lifetime humanitarian efforts. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck among Greatest Male Stars of Classic Hollywood cinema, ranking him at No. 12.

Measures 11" x 14" on a matte double weight paper stock.
Verso is blank.

CONDITION: Fine++ condition, as seen.

Guaranteed to be 100% vintage and original from Grapefruit Moon Gallery.

••••••••••••••••••••

Eldred Gregory Peck was born on April 5, 1916 in La Jolla, California, to Bernice Mary (Ayres) and Gregory Pearl Peck, a chemist and druggist in San Diego. He had Irish (from his paternal grandmother), English, and some German, ancestry. His parents divorced when he was five years old. An only child, he was sent to live with his grandmother. He never felt he had a stable childhood. His fondest memories are of his grandmother taking him to the movies every week and of his dog, which followed him everywhere. He studied pre-med at UC-Berkeley and, while there, got bitten by the acting bug and decided to change the focus of his studies. He enrolled in the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York and debuted on Broadway after graduation. His debut was in Emlyn Williams' play "The Morning Star" (1942). By 1943, he was in Hollywood, where he debuted in the RKO film Days of Glory (1944).

Stardom came with his next film, The Keys of the Kingdom (1944), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. Peck's screen presence displayed the qualities for which he became well known. He was tall, rugged and heroic, with a basic decency that transcended his roles. He appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound (1945) as an amnesia victim accused of murder. In The Yearling (1946), he was again nominated for an Academy Award and won the Golden Globe. He was especially effective in westerns and appeared in such varied fare as David O. Selznick's critically blasted Duel in the Sun (1946), the somewhat better received Yellow Sky (1948) and the acclaimed The Gunfighter (1950). He was nominated again for the Academy Award for his roles in Gentleman's Agreement (1947), which dealt with anti-Semitism, and Twelve O'Clock High (1949), a story of high-level stress in an Air Force bomber unit in World War II.

With a string of hits to his credit, Peck made the decision to only work in films that interested him. He continued to appear as the heroic, larger-than-life figures in such films as Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (1951) and Moby Dick (1956). He worked with Audrey Hepburn in her debut film, Roman Holiday (1953). Peck finally won the Oscar, after four nominations, for his performance as lawyer Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). In the early 1960s, he appeared in two darker films than he usually made, Cape Fear (1962) and Captain Newman, M.D. (1963), which dealt with the way people live. He also gave a powerful performance as Captain Keith Mallory in The Guns of Navarone (1961), one of the biggest box-office hits of that year.

In the early 1970s, he produced two films, The Trial of the Catonsville Nine (1972) and The Dove (1974), when his film career stalled. He made a comeback playing, somewhat woodenly, Robert Thorn in the horror film The Omen (1976). After that, he returned to the bigger-than-life roles he was best known for, such as MacArthur (1977) and the monstrous Nazi Dr. Josef Mengele in the huge hit The Boys from Brazil (1978). In the 1980s, he moved into television with the miniseries The Blue and the Gray (1982) and The Scarlet and the Black (1983). In 1991, he appeared in the remake of his 1962 film, playing a different role, in Martin Scorsese's Cape Fear (1991). He was also cast as the progressive-thinking owner of a wire and cable business in Other People's Money (1991).

In 1967, Peck received the Academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. He was also been awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom. Always politically progressive, he was active in such causes as anti-war protests, workers' rights and civil rights. In 2003, his Peck's portrayal of Atticus Finch was named the greatest film hero of the past 100 years by the American Film Institute. Gregory Peck died at age 87 on June 12, 2003 in Los Angeles, California.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Tony Fontana

••••••••••••••••••••

Ernest A. Bachrach, By: Mary Mallory

Hollywood’s motion picture still photography defined sophisticated style, shaped personas and created the iconic image of “a movie star” as we know it today. The photographers’ dramatic lighting, dynamic compositions, artful negative retouching and artistic eyes influenced the American public’s perceptions of celebrities and their personalities. Stars were defined as sexy, glamorous, thoughtful, foreboding, all through the scintillating camerawork of these often unsung and forgotten men.

While photographers such as George Hurrell, Ruth Harriet Louise, Clarence Sinclair Bull, Lazslo Willinger and Eugene Robert Richee came to be recognized for their style as well as their artistic sensibilities, RKO’s chief photographer, Ernest Bachrach, gained fame for taking quality portraits that fitted whatever style was requested by art directors or studio publicity chiefs. His discerning eye easily captured the personal essence of the stars he shot, the most important element of a first-rate photographic image. As John Kobal quotes him in his book, “The Art of the Great Hollywood Portrait Photographers, ” “Portraiture is very closely akin to cinematography. The cinematographer has very little need for accessories in the making of close-ups; all he needs is a face and some lights and shadows. And that is all the portrait artist needs. Occasionally — but only occasionally — minor props are useful.”

Ernest Bachrach was born Oct. 20, 1899, in New York, and his early years are mostly unknown, though he did sign up for duty in World War I, starting his service at New York’s Ft. Slocum.

By the early 1920s, he was a stillsman for Famous Players-Lasky at their Astoria, N.Y., studio. John Kobal describes how Gloria Swanson came to admire Bachrach’s work as he shot stills for her New York films. Photographer Robert Coburn told him that for Swanson, “There was no other photographer in the world.”

When Swanson formed her own production company in 1926 and returned to Hollywood, she hired Bachrach to shoot portraits and stills for her films, including “Queen Kelly” (1928), “Sadie Thompson, ” (1928), and “The Trespasser” (1929). After Swanson’s company folded, RKO put him in charge of their newly created portrait gallery, where he would remain for most of his career.

As David Shields relates in his book, “Still: American Silent Motion Picture Photography, ” Bachrach mostly shot stars in full figure before cropping and blowing up images to create head shots, busts, and the like, as did several of his contemporaries like Max Munn Autrey, Ruth Harriet Louise and Jack Freulich. Bachrach focused on capturing expression and thought in his portraits, shaping them to suit whatever a particular medium or outlet required. His images seem alive with possibility as a result. His easygoing, friendly personality and disciplined style endeared him to stars and crew, creating a happy work environment, where his staff called him “Ernie.” His disposition and personality created a loyal, steady work force, including photographers Gaston Longet and Alexander Kahle.

While at RKO, Bachrach shot many of its outstanding stars, including Fred Astaire, Irene Dunne, Ginger Rogers and Katharine Hepburn. He connected particularly with Hepburn, capturing her intelligence, poise and flair in expressive photographs. She comments in Kobal’s book how Bachrach and other stillsmen covered flaws and faults in many women’s faces, creating goddesses out of sometimes ordinary faces.

Bachrach sometimes thought that photographers, along with the studios pushing them to turn out portraits, settled for pretty images that failed to firmly represent a star’s essence or individuality. He described in a 1932 article for American Cinematographer called, “Personality and Pictorialism in Photography, ” what he considered quality portraiture: “A primarily pictorial representation of that person’s personality, made by means of photography.”

Bachrach continually sought to improve his craft, shooting independent work to develop his skills in all areas of photography. Hollywood Reporter stated in its May 3, 1933, issue on his innovation of setting portraits on black mounting “unusually artistic.” He received several awards for his outstanding work, including the International Award at the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago for “Finest portrait work in the world.” The Artists and Fellows of the Royal Photographic Society awarded him a diploma for his “achievement in exceptional graphic studies” at the Fair.

The artist sought to inform and educate his colleagues and the public in lighting, shooting and composing excellent photographs by writing articles for such magazines as American Cinematographer, International Photographer, Popular Photography and Silver Screen. In the July 1939 edition of Silver Screen, Bachrach noted that the first question a photographer should pose to his sitter was, “To whom are you giving it?” Photographs for parents, love interests, or jobs should all be lit and shot differently. Some of his articles focused on shooting for face shapes and body shapes, as well as technical aspects.

Besides shooting portraits, Bachrach often made time to shoot stills for important or artistic RKO films, such as “King Kong, ” “Little Women, ” “Sylvia Scarlett, ” “Citizen Kane, ” “The Secret Fury, ” “The Set-Up” and ‘Holiday Affair.”

Bachrach proudly served in various capacities for Local 659, the Cameraman’s Union, serving for years on its Executive Committee and various committees. He helped establish a cameraman’s salon to provide further opportunities in bettering their skills.

Outside of work, Bachrach focused his shooting skills as the leader of RKO’s crack rifle shooting team, composed of members of the photographic staff. The disciplined shooters placed 13th out of 133 teams in the 1936 United States small bore championship series.

Besides painting with light while shooting portraits, Bachrach also dabbled in actual painting, practicing the discipline of composing art true to life with oils and watercolors as well as chemicals, silver, and light.

By the late 1930s and early 1940s, Bachrach sometimes traveled to the East Coast to shoot portraits or stills for films. While traveling, he often visited with magazine art directors and editors to discern their needs for illustrating articles and covers. He also found time to travel to San Francisco “to make portraits of Katharine Cornell and her troupe in Rose Burke, ” per the Jan. 22, 1942, Variety.

When Local 659 organized a Stills Show with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the 1940s, Bachrach often achieved recognition for his outstanding work. The photographer won certificates and first-place awards in 1942 and 1943. In 1947, Bachrach cleaned up at the last stills show, winning two first-place and two second-place awards, and the John Leroy Johnston Trophy for most popular still exhibited in the CBS Columbia Square foyer exhibit: an image of Rhonda Fleming superimposed on a human eye.

Bachrach found solace in work after his wife, Rae, died in 1949, staying busy writing articles, making portraits, and serving his union.

In October 1954, Bachrach retired from RKO after 25 years of work to go freelance and enjoy a little free time. He shot stills for “Around the World in 80 Days” and “Run of the Arrow, ” among others.

Ernest Bachrach passed away March 24, 1973, virtually forgotten by the film community. Thanks to the work of photography scholars like John Kobal and Mark Vieira in the 1980s-2000s, his outstanding skills are once again highlighted galleries, articles and books. While not as famous as photographers like George Hurrell, Ruth Harriet Louise, or Clarence Sinclair Bull, Ernest Bachrach ranks as their equal in creating elegant, iconic portraits defining stars’ personas to legions of movie fans around the world.

— Biography By: Mary Mallory c/o The Daily Mirror

••••••••••••••••••••





    Similar items


  • Moody 1940s Vintage Ernest A.  Bachrach Gregory Peck Large Dramatic Photograph

    Moody 1940s Vintage Ernest A. Bachrach Gregory Peck Large Dramatic Photograph

  • Stunning 1940s Vintage Ernest A.  Bachrach Ingrid Bergman Large Format Photograph

    Stunning 1940s Vintage Ernest A. Bachrach Ingrid Bergman Large Format Photograph

  • Stunning 1940s Vintage Ernest A.  Bachrach Ingrid Bergman Large Format Photograph

    Stunning 1940s Vintage Ernest A. Bachrach Ingrid Bergman Large Format Photograph

  • Moody 1940s Ernest A.  Bachrach Gregory Peck Large Dramatic Photograph

    Moody 1940s Ernest A. Bachrach Gregory Peck Large Dramatic Photograph

  • Jeff Donnell 1940s Rko Ernest A.  Bachrach Stamped Promo Photo

    Jeff Donnell 1940s Rko Ernest A. Bachrach Stamped Promo Photo

  • Russian Ballerina Tamara Toumanova Vintage 1944 Ernest A.  Bachrach Photograph

    Russian Ballerina Tamara Toumanova Vintage 1944 Ernest A. Bachrach Photograph

  • Hollywood Regency Beauty Diana Wynyard Vintage 1934 Ernest A Bachrach Photograph

    Hollywood Regency Beauty Diana Wynyard Vintage 1934 Ernest A Bachrach Photograph

  • Russian Ballerina Tamara Toumanova Vintage 1944 Ernest A.  Bachrach Photograph

    Russian Ballerina Tamara Toumanova Vintage 1944 Ernest A. Bachrach Photograph


    • You might also like


    • Vintage Photo Sexy Ava Gardner Museum Find Rare Great Artistic Lovely

      Vintage Photo Sexy Ava Gardner Museum Find Rare Great Artistic Lovely

    • Vintage Photo Sexy Lana Turner Museum Find Rare Beguiling Beauteous

      Vintage Photo Sexy Lana Turner Museum Find Rare Beguiling Beauteous

    • Ingrid Bergman " Casablanca " Vintage 1942 Jack Woods Stamp Photo

      Ingrid Bergman " Casablanca " Vintage 1942 Jack Woods Stamp Photo

    • Paulette Goddard Sexy Leggy Swimsuit At Beach Vintage Portrait Photo 1942

      Paulette Goddard Sexy Leggy Swimsuit At Beach Vintage Portrait Photo 1942

    • Deanna Durbin Vintage 1942 Ray Jones Stamp Leggy Photo

      Deanna Durbin Vintage 1942 Ray Jones Stamp Leggy Photo

    • Janet Blair Sexy Leggy Swimsuit Vintage Portrait Photo

      Janet Blair Sexy Leggy Swimsuit Vintage Portrait Photo

    • Paulette Goddard In Bathing Suit Vintage 1940 Leggy Cheesecake Photo

      Paulette Goddard In Bathing Suit Vintage 1940 Leggy Cheesecake Photo

    • Paulette Goddard Sexy Leggy Swimsuit At Beach Vintage Portrait Photo 1942

      Paulette Goddard Sexy Leggy Swimsuit At Beach Vintage Portrait Photo 1942

Avaluer          About Us          Privacy Policy          Contact Us          UP
© 2022, avaluer.net, Inc. or its affiliates