Gertrude Stein at Bilignin - inscribed to the Conductor of "Four Saints in Three Acts" and "Porgy and Bess" by Stein, Gertrude. (1874-1946) & Vechten, Carl Van. (1880–1964) [Smallens, Alexander. (1889–1972)]

Used; Like New/Used; Like New. Rare vintage 9.5 x 6.25 silver gelatin photo of Stein by writer and photographer Carl Van Vechten, June, 1934, picturing her looking out over the Rhône Valley with mountains rising in the distance, affixed to the original 12.25 x 12.5 mount, which is signed and inscribed in black ink, "For Alexander Smallens, in appreciation, Gertrude Stein." The mount is also signed by Van Vechten. In fine condition, with some faint foxing, and a thin stain to the bottom edge.
Gertrude Stein, one of America's most famous writers and who is best known for her novels, poetry, and opera libretti marked by a distinctive, playfully experimental, sometimes nonsensical use of language, lived in France from 1903 until her death. She experimented radically with language and reached across the arts, befriending young writers like Ernest Hemingway and artists such as Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. Stein's most important champion, Van Vechten, met the author in 1913 and soon became one of her most devoted and dearest friends. They corresponded for the remainder of Stein's life and he took this portrait of her when he visited Stein and Toklas in Bilignin in 1931.  At her death, she appointed Van Vechten as her literary executor; he helped to bring into print her unpublished writings and played a major role in having her work Tender Buttons released in the United States. 
Photos signed by Stein remain appreciably rare, and this is an especially historic example, inscribed to the important conductor Alexander Smallens, who had lead the premiere in 1927 of the Virgil Thomson - Gertrude Stein  opera Four Saints in Three Acts and who would later conduct the historic 1935 world premiere of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. Four Saints was first performed at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, CT on Feb. 7, 1934 and opened on Broadway 2 weeks later. Revolutionary in a number of ways, the libretto has more to do with the sounds of the words than with presenting a coherent narrative. The portrayal of the European saints by an all-black cast was the first of its kind, and the sets, designed by Florine Stettheimer, included cellophane backdrops, with costumes - also by Stettheimer - made of colorful lace, silk and taffeta. The choreography was by Frederick Ashton, after Balanchine had turned down the job.
Van Vechten, the celebrated American writer and photographer, was the literary executor of Gertrude Stein and a key figure of the Harlem Renaissance movement. He captured iconic images of all the key members in the worlds of Art, Theater, Music, and Literature. Van Vechten viewed his photography as a hobby; he never took commissions, he never sold photographs. He would grant permission to publish them, but had strict requirements to do so. He was a prominent fixture in 20th century photography collections with his work being included in such institutions as The Library of Congress, The Museum of The City of New York and The Smithsonian Institution.