Although often associated with the Surrealist movement, Manuel Álvarez Bravo did not consider himself as such. Rather, his ‘Retrato de lo Eterno (Portrait of the Eternal)’ conforms to a particularly Latin American vision known in literature as ‘magic realism.’ Scholar Susan Kismaric has pointed out the qualities of magic realism that are characteristic of Álvarez Bravo’s oeuvre: an ordinary incident from daily life distilled to its essence as an emblem or fable; a dream-like quality so pervasive that it becomes its own reality; a resonant and meaningful title that adds to the mythic dimension of the work. At first glance, ‘Retrato de lo Eterno,' a study of a woman looking into a mirror, evokes the ageless themes of beauty, vanity, sexuality, and mortality.

The model in ‘Retrato de lo Eterno’ is Isabel Villaseñor, a Mexican actress and painter who was the star of Sergei Eisenstein’s film ¡Que Viva México! Her husband, the artist Gabriel Fernandez Ledesma, edited the avant-garde arts magazine FORMA, which published the early work of Edward Weston (see Lots 60, 61, 63, 72, 74, 76, 88, 122, 123, and 124) and Tina Modotti.

This print of ‘Retrato de lo Eterno’ is a remarkably open printing of the negative, with a higher level of detail visible than in the more common later prints of this image. This is particularly notable in the shadowed portion of the sitter's face and feet, in the pattern of her dress, and in the blanket on the floor. According to Álvarez Bravo expert Spencer Throckmorton, the photographer signed his prints in ink on the reverse between about 1935 and 1938, after which he signed almost exclusively in pencil. According to Throckmorton, the present photograph may be a contact print, and no more than 6 early prints of this image exist in this format.