Original oversize photograph of a 1932 Graham Model 57 "Blue Streak" sedan on the salt flats of Death Valley by photographer Preston Duncan, circa 1931

Hollywood, CA: Preston Duncan Associates, Circa 1931. Vintage oversize borderless photograph of a 1932 Graham Model 57 "Blue Streak" sedan on the salt flats of Death Valley, by noted Hollywood photographer Preston Duncan, circa 1931.

The photograph is mounted to art board with annotations in manuscript pencil on the bottom margin of the board, and a photographer stamp and a negative number stamp on the verso.

An erroneous annotation on the verso notes that the car shown is the 1931 Graham-Paige. The photograph instead shows the highly innovative 1932 Graham Model 57 "Blue Streak" Sedan, with its sloped-back grille and window, skirted fenders, and concealed radiator cap, introduced in December of 1931. Likely photographed by Duncan for advertisements for the Graham-Paige automotive company.

Noted early Hollywood photographer Preston Duncan was best known for his striking, often experimental portraits of silent and early sound film stars of the 1920s and 1930s. His subjects included Louise Brooks, Dolores Costello, Billie Dove, Audrey Ferris, Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy, Buddy Rogers, and Pauline Starke, among others, and often appeared in the "Los Angeles Times." In the late 1920s and early 1930s Duncan worked for Warner Brothers Studios and operated the "Lindoldun" gallery out of his Canyon Drive home. By the mid-1930s, Duncan's photography shifted from film work to more aesthetic endeavors, including the 1939 Harriet Huntington children's book "Let's Go Outdoors."

Designed by pioneering automotive designer Amos Northup, and introduced on December 8, 1931, the 1932 Graham-Paige "Graham Model 57" has been described as "the single most influential design in automotive history" ("A Concise Guide to Graham-Paige," 2016). The vehicle featured a new 8-cylinder engine, called the "Blue Steak," and included a number of influential aesthetic innovations, including the skirted fender sweeps (which had been adopted on nearly every new car by 1934), a sloped back grille shell and windshield, headlamp buckets tucked in close to the body and fenders (and painted the body color).

A lovely confluence of an early groundbreaking vehicle photographed by an early groundbreaking Hollywood photographer.

13 x 10 inches mounted to a 18 x 15 inch board. Photograph Near Fine. Backing Board Very Good plus, with light edgewear, faint soiling, a faint vertical crease to the left side, and two tiny splashes to the bottom right of the board (see image).

[Book #170993]