Minstrel Showbill, Alabama, 1936

The print on offer here is inscribed on the mount to Norman Ives, an American artist and graphic designer who co-founded the fine-art publishing company Ives-Sillman, Inc., with fellow artist and colleague Sewell Sillman in 1958. Ives-Sillman went on to produce editioned prints and monographic portfolios for premier artists of their time, including Josef Albers, Jean Dubuffet, Piet Mondrian, and Walker Evans.

Ives was a professor in the Graphic Design department at Yale University School of Art alongside Walker Evans, who taught Photography courses in the department. During their tenure at the university, Ives-Sillman worked with Evans to publish a portfolio of 14 gelatin silver prints titled Walker Evans: 14 Photographs highlighting his work from the 1930s.