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W. Eugene Smith
Patients at Haitian asylum
1958-1959
Silver print
23 x 38 in (58.4 x 96.5 cm)
Swann Galleries - New York
Courtesy of Swann Galleries (Auction, Oct 15, 2007, #2124, Lot 144)
LL/23186
A unique print, formerly in the collection of Dr. Nathan Kline; by descent to his daughter, Marna Anderson.
Dr. Nathan Kline, director of research at the Rockland Psychiatric Center, Orangeburg, New York, enjoyed a holiday in Haiti with his wife and daughter in the late 1950s. Upon visiting the country's mental health facilities he saw first-hand the damaging effects of violence, poverty, and repression. He returned to the States to raise funds for a public clinic.
Aware of W. Eugene Smith's remarkable talent and reputation, Klein invited him to Haiti to take photographs of the deplorable conditions psychiatric patients endured. Smith made several trips to Haiti in 1958 and 1959. The photographs he created during this period are some of the darkest and most compelling of his career. Upon returning to the States the prints were gifted to Dr. Kline who had found the support from an American pharmaceutical company to build proper hospital facilities.
The pictures from Smith's Haiti series have a poignant, indeed haunted, quality that were enhanced by his masterful printing technique, which made ample use of dark rich tones. This oversize print was apparently on exhibition, and has been in the family for fifty plus years. As a result of Smith's photographs and Kline's humanitarian efforts, the requisite funds were raised for the hospital in Port-au-Prince.
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