Lot 302: PICKFORD (MARY) and DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS

Fine large signed photograph of Mary Pickford and her husband Douglas Fairbanks, inscribed by her "To Sir Henry & Lady Wood In memory of their visit to Hollywood 1925 Mary Pickford" and by him "Best wishes to Sir Henry & Lady Wood Douglas Fairbanks", showing them full length seated on a bench in a garden, signed "Abbe" by the photographer in red crayon, 36 by 28 cm.

Commemorating Wood's visit to Hollywood in July 1925 to conduct at the Hollywood Bowl. Fairbanks had married 'America's Sweetheart' in 1920, and at this time they were the quintessential Hollywood couple. This atmospheric shot of them in what looks like their garden is by the photojournalist James Abbe, the self-styled 'tramp photographer', who eschewed use of the studio and was responsible for many of the images by which Hollywood's golden age is remembered. American Book Prices Current has no record of a signed photograph of the couple having been sold at auction. See illustration overleaf.