Penetrating vintage matte-finish 7 x 9 portrait of Hemingway in a light-colored shirt, staring directly into the camera; this pose is actually an enlarged copy of his passport photo. Signed and inscribed in blue fountain pen, “For Beatie, with much affection always, Ernest Hemingway, Havana 1953.” The recipient, Beatie Guck, was a friend of Hemingway’s fourth wife, Mary, and the year this photo was signed was a high point in Hemingway’s later career. He had just published The Old Man and the Sea and received the Pulitzer Prize for it in 1953, followed by the Nobel Prize in the following year. The next eight years were not quite as good, as Hemingway experienced two plane crashes, was badly burned in a brush fire, suffered bouts of depression, and eventually found himself unable to write to his standards. On July 2, 1961, he shot himself at his home in Ketchum, Idaho. Archivally double-matted and framed to an overall size of 13.25 x 15.25. In fine condition, with a couple light, unobtrusive bends and the ink a shade light in places. Like many legendary writers, Hemingway is notably scarce in signed photographs, and this is one of the finest we have seen. Auction LOA John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and R&R COA.
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