'To Miss Cunningham' Portrait of Imogen Cunningham by Yngvar Sonnichsen. Oil on Canvas. Signed, dedicated, and titled in the lower left. Overall Size: 18 x 14 in. Sight Size: 15 7/8 x 11 3/4 in. Thickness: 2 in. #1114 . Imogen Cunningham (1883-1976) is one of the most important modernist photographers. Yngvar Sonnichsen was working in Seattle from 1908. Cunningham worked in Seattle in Edward Curtis's studio, then established her own studio in Seattle after her return from studies in Europe. Sonnichsen (1878-1938) was known for portrait, landscapes, prints, and murals. He studied at the Polytechnic Institute in Oslo. receiving a degree in civil engineering in 1894. He also studied art at the National School of Art and Design from 1894-1895. He returned to the same school in 1901-1902 as a student in the upper division where he worked and studied with the well-known Norwegian artists Hans Heyerdahl, Oscar Wergeland, and John Ekenaes. While in Norway, he became acquainted with Norwegian artist Edvard Munch as well as other artists such as Herbjørn Gausta, with whom he spent a summer sketching. He also studied in Antwerp and Brussels in the period 1895 and 1899 and at the Academic Julian in Paris with William Bouguereau and Benjamin Constant. When he returned to Norway, he studied with Eilif Peterssen in Lysaker. From 1900 until 1904 he painted portraits in Norway, had paintings accepted at several important exhibits, and worked as a designer for the institution which became the Norwegian Folk Museum.