Weston Gallery - Artist: Imogen Cunningham

The Imogen Cunningham Trust

When Imogen Cunningham was 91 years old (in 1975), she conceived the idea of creating some device for perpetuating the reproduction and sale of her photographs. She specifically rejected leaving her negative collection to a museum out of fear that her work would be subject to the whims of whomever might be in charge of photography or art in that particular museum. Since she had spent her entire life making her living from her photographs, she wanted to incorporate the idea into some form of business or entity to carry on after her death. Her concept is unique in art. Rather than merely providing for her work to be handed over to some institution, she set about creating an institute of her own to handle her work. To fulfill her vision, The Imogen Cunningham Trust was created.


	Her and Her Shadow 2, 1931

The Trust provided for three Trustees-a member of her family with an interest in photography, her book designer and her attorney. During the last years of Imogen's life, the Trustees, with her active participation and approval, essentially ran the business of having her prints produced by the highest quality printer available and distributed. As expected, the Trust generated enough business to hire employees and a full-time administrator with the general directives of Imogen and her Trustees.

Magnolia Blossom, 1925

The Trust was breaking new ground and Imogen had the remarkable ability to acknowledge the fact that the plan as she envisioned it might not continue after her death unless the system were perfected by then. She therefore devoted much of her energies to working with her Trustees so that it would succeed when she was no longer around to give it direction and to make decisions. As a result, the conduct of the business did indeed, after her death in June of 1976, continue automatically and along the same course which had been chartered by her. Today the Trust follows her clearly expressed attitudes as to how her work should be promoted and distributed. Rondal Partridge, Imogen's son, prints all of the Trust prints. Each print is mounted and overmatted with the finest archival materials and bears certification on the back, showing the date, the production number and the signature of the printer. The front bears the Chinese chop and the signature logo. No more than twenty prints will be made from one negative in one year.

Untitled, 1925

Two Callas, about 1925

Triangles Plus One, 1928

About the Chinese Chop

"To Hell With You! This print is just as good as if Imogen Cunningham had made it."

Imogen had facetiously suggested that these words be translated into Chinese and made into a stamp to be used on all photographs that she didn't print herself. This had proven impractical. However, her friend Shen Yao, Professor of Linguistics at the University of Hawaii, was able to come up with three Chinese characters that would not only spell out "Imogen" phonetically but would also translate literally into "Ideas without end." A fourth character, the customary seal, was added. Imogen's script logo and the mark of the Chinese chop are blind stamped into the mounts of all Trust Prints.


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