BILL Wittliff (1940-2019) Toned Gelatin Silver Print Lonesome Dove

Lot description

Framed toned gelatin silver print on paper, "Call & Herd - Lonesome Dove - Santa Fe" (Tommy Lee Jones as Woodrow F. Call), signed lower right Bill Wittliff (William Dale Wittliff, American, active in Austin, Texas, 1940-2019), inscribed and dated 1988 verso with Wittliff red ink stamp, backing paper with dedication reading "My Dearest Connie - For all the parts of yourself you have given me over all the good years you have been my friend and compadre here at the Encino. I wanted to give you this little part of myself - along with my everlasting thanks and love. You are ever so dear to me... Love/ Bill 9/19/97," image: approx 14.25"h, 22 7/8"w, sheet: 19 15/16"h, 24 1/16"w, overall: 27.25"h, 35.5"w, 11.25lbs Provenance: From the estate of Connie Todd (Constance Clare Todd, Austin, Texas, 1941-2024). For many years, Connie Todd was the personal assistant to prominent Austin-based book publisher, photographer, and author Bill Wittliff (William Dale Wittliff, American, active in Austin, Texas, 1940-2019). Bill Wittliff wrote celebrated screenplays such as "Lonesome Dove" (1982), "Legends of the Fall" (1994), and "Barbarosa" (2000), and founded the regionally-oriented publishing company, Encino Press, with his wife Sally in 1963. Connie Todd later served as the founding director of the Wittliff Collections at Texas State University from 1997-2010, transforming it into an internationally-acclaimed collection through noteworthy acquisitions such as the Cormac McCarthy archive. After retiring from Texas State, Connie Todd spent time traveling the world with friends and family.