ARTISTS
Photographs at Sotheby鈥檚
Sotheby鈥檚 6 October 2010 auction of Photographs presents a fine selection of photographic images dating from the medium鈥檚 earliest years
黑料不打烊
26 Sep, 2010
New York 鈥� Sotheby鈥檚 6 October 2010 auction of Photographs presents a fine selection of photographic聽images dating from the medium鈥檚 earliest years to those by some of best photographers of the 20th century聽and the present day. Overall the sale is expected to fetch between $4.3 and 6.5 million. The catalogue cover聽image, Edward Steichen鈥檚 Wind Fire, Th茅r猫se Duncan, Acropolis (est. $120,000-180,000, above) is one of聽very few extant prints of this iconic image. This lush and warm-toned palladium print is the earliest-known聽published print of the image, appearing in Vanity Fair in June 1923, and it conveys an elegant exuberance.聽Steichen took this photograph while vacationing in Greece with modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan and聽her troupe. The photographer made dramatic images of Duncan striking classical poses amidst the聽Parthenon, but in Th茅r猫se Duncan, an adopted daughter of Isadora, Steichen found his ideal subject.
Steichen followed the lively and vivacious young woman as she danced around the Acropolis, photographing聽her in motion. Wind Fire is the definitive image from this series, and is one of the only images within聽Steichen鈥檚 vast and diverse oeuvre in which movement鈥攊n the graceful curve of Th茅r猫se鈥檚 body, and in her聽wind-whipped garments and hair鈥攑lays such a crucial and compelling role.
Foremost among Sotheby鈥檚 extensive offerings of fine 19th-century聽photographs is a whole-plate daguerreotype by Rufus Anson of the two聽principle characters in the 19th-century melodrama Robert Macaire (est.$250,000-350,000): the titular arch-villain and his hapless foil,聽Strop. In its portrayal of two costumed actors, fully in-character, it is an聽image that crackles with dramatic energy. Robert Macaire was an聽immensely popular play and was performed throughout the world. The聽character of Macaire, the unrepentant scoundrel, modernized the stock聽villain in a way that was irresistible to the audiences of the day. Anson,聽who worked in New York City on Broadway, has captured in this unique聽image an unparalleled record of the substance and spirit of American聽theatre of the mid-19th century. This daguerreotype was for years owned by legendary photographs collector聽Andr茅 Jammes, and is now being sold from a private collection.
Leading off the sale is a group of 17 portfolios from Edward聽Curtis鈥檚 magnum opus, The North American Indian (ests. ranging聽from $5,000-7,000 to $30,000-50,000). Published聽between 1907 and 1930, The North American Indian comprises聽a vast pictorial document of Native American cultures prior to聽assimilation. The 570 masterfully-rendered large-format聽photogravures on offer are printed on either vellum or tissue and聽include some of Curtis鈥檚 most iconic and elegiac images. These聽portfolios are duplicates from the collection of the Amon Carter聽Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, which recently聽acquired the complete set of The North American Indian, and arebeing sold to benefit acquisition funds.
Photographic Modernism figures prominently in the聽October sale, which includes Edward Weston鈥檚 iconic 1936聽Dunes, Oceano (est. $70,000-100,000). This聽quintessential Dunes study comes originally from the聽collection of Illinois industrialist and amateur photographer聽Walter Colman, who befriended Weston in the 1940s. In聽addition to the technical and aesthetic advice he got from聽the photographer, Colman also acquired the Dunes imagefrom Weston, as well as two other landscape views: Death Valley (Dante鈥檚 View) (est. $10,000-18,000) and聽Point Lobos (Surf, China Cove) (est. $8,000-12,000).
Tina Modotti learned the craft of photography from her lover and mentorEdward Weston during their time together in Mexico City in the 1920s.Modotti grasped the basics of the medium immediately and went on to聽create one of the richest bodies of photographic work of any photographer聽in the 20th century. Sugar Cane (est. $50,000-70,000) possesses聽both a formally rigorous composition and references to Mexican culture.
Sugar Cane was reproduced in the Russian journal International Literature in1935, and the print offered here is one of only three extant prints of the聽image.Modotti was, in turn, an influence on the work of Mexican聽photographer Manuel-脕lvarez Bravo, whose early 1930s聽photograph Los Agachados (est. $50,000-70,000) offered here is believed to be one of only two early聽prints of this image ever to be offered at auction. 尝辞蝉听础驳补肠丑补诲辞蝉 shows a typical Mexican scene: a group of men聽seated at a storefront restaurant. Through Bravo鈥檚 skillful聽use of light, the heads of the men at the counter are聽obscured but the chains linking the restaurant鈥檚 metal stools are clearly delineated. It is this elusive, sometimes聽dreamlike, sometimes menacing, quality of Bravo鈥檚 images that made him so appealing to the Surrealists. This聽early print is personally inscribed by Bravo to his friend and colleague Gabriel Figueroa, Mexico鈥檚 most聽accomplished cinematographer, who worked with directors Luis Bu帽uel, John Huston, John Ford, and many聽others.
In Still Life Composition with Chess Set, Plaster Casts, and 鈥楢聽L鈥橦eure de l鈥橭bservatoire鈥擫es Amoureux鈥� (est. $50,000-聽70,000), Man Ray transforms a photograph of a corner of聽his Paris studio into a surreal and obliquely personal document.
Dominating this complexly layered image is his famous painting of聽the lips of his ex-lover Lee Miller floating against the sky. Beneath聽the painting is a chess set of Man Ray鈥檚 own design -- a reference to his chess-obsessed mentor, friend, and聽collaborator Marcel Duchamp -- and two prone plaster casts frequently (and sometimes erotically) employed聽in other photographs by Man Ray. This photograph comes originally from the collection of Man Ray鈥檚 widow,聽Juliet Man Ray.
The October auction continues Sotheby鈥檚 tradition of offering truly聽great 19th-century photographic work and includes a number of聽impressive examples of early American photography, such as the聽aesthetically sophisticated whole-plate daguerreotype of Two Couples聽in a Verdant Setting (est. $50,000-80,000). Outdoor聽daguerreotypes are rare, and it is still rarer to find a large-format聽outdoor scene rendered in the vertical format. In this image the聽unknown photographer has fully exploited the verticality of the frame to聽emphasize the聽arching vault of聽trees overhanging the two couples. Made scarcely ten聽years after photography鈥檚 invention, this聽daguerreotype is wholly modern in its vision and聽execution. Among a strong selection of聽daguerreotypes is the skillfully hand-colored half-plate聽of Three Girls (est. $20,000-30,000), in which the central subject casts her fervent gaze heavenward.
Beautiful and haunting, this daguerreotype has more in common with the work of Julia Margaret Cameron聽and F. Holland Day than other work of the daguerreian era. Also of note is the quarter-plate daguerreotype聽of Revolutionary War Veteran Baltus Stone (est. $10,000-20,000) who was over 100 years of聽age when this portrait was made in Philadelphia. Stone saw action in the Battles of Long Island, Brandywine,聽and Germantown. Born in 1744, he is one of the earliest-born people to have been photographed.
Other 19th-century photographs include two impressive聽mammoth albumen prints by Carleton Watkins of Yosemite:聽Sentinal 鈥� View up the Valley (est. $30,000-50,000) and聽Sentinel 鈥� View Down the Valley (est. $30,000-50,000),聽both from 1861. Andrew Joseph Russell鈥檚 East Meets West,聽Shaking Hands at the Laying of the Last Rail, Promontory聽Point, Utah (est. $25,000-35,000) documents the聽moment in May 1869 when the first transcontinental railroad聽was completed, and is one of only three known early prints of the image extant.
The auction is especially rich in post-World War II work by Robert Frank, Diane聽Arbus, and Garry Winogrand. The Frank offerings include three important聽images made in the 1950s when the photographer travelled across America聽taking images that would later be compiled in his seminal book, The Americans.
US 285, New Mexico (est. $60,000-80,000) is an emblem of the open聽road, showing a seemingly infinite highway receding into the distance.聽
McClellanville, S. C. (Barbershop) (est. $60,000-聽80,000), one of the central images in The聽Americans, represents a rare instance from this period聽in which Frank himself, as a reflection, appears within聽the frame. US 90, En Route to Del Rio, Texas (est.聽$80,000-120,000) evokes Frank鈥檚 life on the road,聽showing his wife and young son in Frank鈥檚 car pulled to the side of the highway. Also included are a number of the photographer鈥檚 earlier, more atmospheric,聽European works, including an early print of Paris (Man and Cart) (est. $30,000-50,000).
Also on offer are a rare lifetime print of Diane Arbus鈥檚 iconic 1963 Xmas聽Tree in a Living Room in Levittown, L.I. (est. $100,000-150,000),聽and Garry Wingrand鈥檚 monumental 85-photograph portfolio Women Are聽Beautiful (est. $60,000-90,000). An early print of Robert Adams鈥檚聽classic depiction of suburban isolation, Colorado Springs (est. $15,000-聽25,000), and Robert Rauschenberg鈥檚 unique bleached large-formatPolaroid print New York (est. $30,000-50,000) are also featured.
Two works by Irving Penn illustrate his mastery of two very different聽photographic techniques. His Cigarette No. 9 (in Four Parts) (est.$100,000-150,000) is comprised of four platinum prints.聽Massive in format, this composite image is one of only seven such聽versions of the image made by Penn. In his Frozen Food (With聽String Beans) (est. $70,000-100,000) Penn uses the dye-transfer聽process to great effect in rendering the colors of his subjects.
Another master of color photography is William Eggleston, whose聽Graceland portfolio (est. $80,000-120,000) consists of 11 dyetransfer聽prints of Elvis Presley鈥檚聽legendary Memphis home.
For collectors interested in photographic literature, Sotheby鈥檚 offers an聽exceedingly rare complete set of the seminal Dada publication 291 (est.聽$30,000-50,000). Published by Alfred Stieglitz in 1915 and 1916,聽this large folio journal reproduced the graphic work of Francis Picabia, John聽Marin, Maurice de Zayas, and Edward Steichen, as well as the large-format聽photogravure of Stieglitz鈥檚 The Steerage. Also of interest to bibliophiles is a聽preliminary partial maquette for the book Henri Cartier- Bresson: Photographe (est. $30,000-50,000), containing 16 original photographs of some of Cartier-Bresson鈥檚聽most famous images. This comes from the collection of photographer and publisher Paul Ickovic, whom聽Cartier-Bresson describes in an appreciative personal inscription as 鈥榯he Godfather鈥� of the book.
Two important and massive multi-media works by Peter聽Beard will be featured in the auction. Lion鈥檚 Pride,聽Southern Serengeti (est. $100,000-150,000)聽combines one of Beard鈥檚 photographs of lions with his聽own drawings and inscriptions, as well as those of the聽African artists Mathenge Kivoi and E. Mwangi Kuria. In聽Diary Page Diptych: October 14 (Ele. Embryo, MP 1)聽/March (Bacon and E. Taylor, MP 2) (est. $70,000-聽100,000), which was exhibited at the artist鈥檚 1996聽Carnets Africains exhibition in Paris, Beard adventurously聽collages a multitude of printed and three-dimensional聽objects around large-scale reproductions of his diarypages.
Other contemporary offerings include Robert Mapplethorpe鈥檚 large-format Calla Lilly (est. $60,000-聽80,000), as well as two early works in frames and silk mats designed by Mapplethorpe himself:
Carnations (est. $30,000-50,000), exhibited in his groundbreaking exhibition The Perfect Moment, and聽Amanda Lear (est. $15,000-20,000). Large-scale color work by Candida Hofer, Robert Polidori, Erwin聽Olaf, Joann Verburg, Elger Esser, and Lewis Baltz will also be featured.
*Estimates do not include buyers premium
The works in the sale will be on view in Sotheby鈥檚 York Avenue galleries from Friday 1 October
Steichen followed the lively and vivacious young woman as she danced around the Acropolis, photographing聽her in motion. Wind Fire is the definitive image from this series, and is one of the only images within聽Steichen鈥檚 vast and diverse oeuvre in which movement鈥攊n the graceful curve of Th茅r猫se鈥檚 body, and in her聽wind-whipped garments and hair鈥攑lays such a crucial and compelling role.
Foremost among Sotheby鈥檚 extensive offerings of fine 19th-century聽photographs is a whole-plate daguerreotype by Rufus Anson of the two聽principle characters in the 19th-century melodrama Robert Macaire (est.$250,000-350,000): the titular arch-villain and his hapless foil,聽Strop. In its portrayal of two costumed actors, fully in-character, it is an聽image that crackles with dramatic energy. Robert Macaire was an聽immensely popular play and was performed throughout the world. The聽character of Macaire, the unrepentant scoundrel, modernized the stock聽villain in a way that was irresistible to the audiences of the day. Anson,聽who worked in New York City on Broadway, has captured in this unique聽image an unparalleled record of the substance and spirit of American聽theatre of the mid-19th century. This daguerreotype was for years owned by legendary photographs collector聽Andr茅 Jammes, and is now being sold from a private collection.
Leading off the sale is a group of 17 portfolios from Edward聽Curtis鈥檚 magnum opus, The North American Indian (ests. ranging聽from $5,000-7,000 to $30,000-50,000). Published聽between 1907 and 1930, The North American Indian comprises聽a vast pictorial document of Native American cultures prior to聽assimilation. The 570 masterfully-rendered large-format聽photogravures on offer are printed on either vellum or tissue and聽include some of Curtis鈥檚 most iconic and elegiac images. These聽portfolios are duplicates from the collection of the Amon Carter聽Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, which recently聽acquired the complete set of The North American Indian, and arebeing sold to benefit acquisition funds.
Photographic Modernism figures prominently in the聽October sale, which includes Edward Weston鈥檚 iconic 1936聽Dunes, Oceano (est. $70,000-100,000). This聽quintessential Dunes study comes originally from the聽collection of Illinois industrialist and amateur photographer聽Walter Colman, who befriended Weston in the 1940s. In聽addition to the technical and aesthetic advice he got from聽the photographer, Colman also acquired the Dunes imagefrom Weston, as well as two other landscape views: Death Valley (Dante鈥檚 View) (est. $10,000-18,000) and聽Point Lobos (Surf, China Cove) (est. $8,000-12,000).
Tina Modotti learned the craft of photography from her lover and mentorEdward Weston during their time together in Mexico City in the 1920s.Modotti grasped the basics of the medium immediately and went on to聽create one of the richest bodies of photographic work of any photographer聽in the 20th century. Sugar Cane (est. $50,000-70,000) possesses聽both a formally rigorous composition and references to Mexican culture.
Sugar Cane was reproduced in the Russian journal International Literature in1935, and the print offered here is one of only three extant prints of the聽image.Modotti was, in turn, an influence on the work of Mexican聽photographer Manuel-脕lvarez Bravo, whose early 1930s聽photograph Los Agachados (est. $50,000-70,000) offered here is believed to be one of only two early聽prints of this image ever to be offered at auction. 尝辞蝉听础驳补肠丑补诲辞蝉 shows a typical Mexican scene: a group of men聽seated at a storefront restaurant. Through Bravo鈥檚 skillful聽use of light, the heads of the men at the counter are聽obscured but the chains linking the restaurant鈥檚 metal stools are clearly delineated. It is this elusive, sometimes聽dreamlike, sometimes menacing, quality of Bravo鈥檚 images that made him so appealing to the Surrealists. This聽early print is personally inscribed by Bravo to his friend and colleague Gabriel Figueroa, Mexico鈥檚 most聽accomplished cinematographer, who worked with directors Luis Bu帽uel, John Huston, John Ford, and many聽others.
In Still Life Composition with Chess Set, Plaster Casts, and 鈥楢聽L鈥橦eure de l鈥橭bservatoire鈥擫es Amoureux鈥� (est. $50,000-聽70,000), Man Ray transforms a photograph of a corner of聽his Paris studio into a surreal and obliquely personal document.
Dominating this complexly layered image is his famous painting of聽the lips of his ex-lover Lee Miller floating against the sky. Beneath聽the painting is a chess set of Man Ray鈥檚 own design -- a reference to his chess-obsessed mentor, friend, and聽collaborator Marcel Duchamp -- and two prone plaster casts frequently (and sometimes erotically) employed聽in other photographs by Man Ray. This photograph comes originally from the collection of Man Ray鈥檚 widow,聽Juliet Man Ray.
The October auction continues Sotheby鈥檚 tradition of offering truly聽great 19th-century photographic work and includes a number of聽impressive examples of early American photography, such as the聽aesthetically sophisticated whole-plate daguerreotype of Two Couples聽in a Verdant Setting (est. $50,000-80,000). Outdoor聽daguerreotypes are rare, and it is still rarer to find a large-format聽outdoor scene rendered in the vertical format. In this image the聽unknown photographer has fully exploited the verticality of the frame to聽emphasize the聽arching vault of聽trees overhanging the two couples. Made scarcely ten聽years after photography鈥檚 invention, this聽daguerreotype is wholly modern in its vision and聽execution. Among a strong selection of聽daguerreotypes is the skillfully hand-colored half-plate聽of Three Girls (est. $20,000-30,000), in which the central subject casts her fervent gaze heavenward.
Beautiful and haunting, this daguerreotype has more in common with the work of Julia Margaret Cameron聽and F. Holland Day than other work of the daguerreian era. Also of note is the quarter-plate daguerreotype聽of Revolutionary War Veteran Baltus Stone (est. $10,000-20,000) who was over 100 years of聽age when this portrait was made in Philadelphia. Stone saw action in the Battles of Long Island, Brandywine,聽and Germantown. Born in 1744, he is one of the earliest-born people to have been photographed.
Other 19th-century photographs include two impressive聽mammoth albumen prints by Carleton Watkins of Yosemite:聽Sentinal 鈥� View up the Valley (est. $30,000-50,000) and聽Sentinel 鈥� View Down the Valley (est. $30,000-50,000),聽both from 1861. Andrew Joseph Russell鈥檚 East Meets West,聽Shaking Hands at the Laying of the Last Rail, Promontory聽Point, Utah (est. $25,000-35,000) documents the聽moment in May 1869 when the first transcontinental railroad聽was completed, and is one of only three known early prints of the image extant.
The auction is especially rich in post-World War II work by Robert Frank, Diane聽Arbus, and Garry Winogrand. The Frank offerings include three important聽images made in the 1950s when the photographer travelled across America聽taking images that would later be compiled in his seminal book, The Americans.
US 285, New Mexico (est. $60,000-80,000) is an emblem of the open聽road, showing a seemingly infinite highway receding into the distance.聽
McClellanville, S. C. (Barbershop) (est. $60,000-聽80,000), one of the central images in The聽Americans, represents a rare instance from this period聽in which Frank himself, as a reflection, appears within聽the frame. US 90, En Route to Del Rio, Texas (est.聽$80,000-120,000) evokes Frank鈥檚 life on the road,聽showing his wife and young son in Frank鈥檚 car pulled to the side of the highway. Also included are a number of the photographer鈥檚 earlier, more atmospheric,聽European works, including an early print of Paris (Man and Cart) (est. $30,000-50,000).
Also on offer are a rare lifetime print of Diane Arbus鈥檚 iconic 1963 Xmas聽Tree in a Living Room in Levittown, L.I. (est. $100,000-150,000),聽and Garry Wingrand鈥檚 monumental 85-photograph portfolio Women Are聽Beautiful (est. $60,000-90,000). An early print of Robert Adams鈥檚聽classic depiction of suburban isolation, Colorado Springs (est. $15,000-聽25,000), and Robert Rauschenberg鈥檚 unique bleached large-formatPolaroid print New York (est. $30,000-50,000) are also featured.
Two works by Irving Penn illustrate his mastery of two very different聽photographic techniques. His Cigarette No. 9 (in Four Parts) (est.$100,000-150,000) is comprised of four platinum prints.聽Massive in format, this composite image is one of only seven such聽versions of the image made by Penn. In his Frozen Food (With聽String Beans) (est. $70,000-100,000) Penn uses the dye-transfer聽process to great effect in rendering the colors of his subjects.
Another master of color photography is William Eggleston, whose聽Graceland portfolio (est. $80,000-120,000) consists of 11 dyetransfer聽prints of Elvis Presley鈥檚聽legendary Memphis home.
For collectors interested in photographic literature, Sotheby鈥檚 offers an聽exceedingly rare complete set of the seminal Dada publication 291 (est.聽$30,000-50,000). Published by Alfred Stieglitz in 1915 and 1916,聽this large folio journal reproduced the graphic work of Francis Picabia, John聽Marin, Maurice de Zayas, and Edward Steichen, as well as the large-format聽photogravure of Stieglitz鈥檚 The Steerage. Also of interest to bibliophiles is a聽preliminary partial maquette for the book Henri Cartier- Bresson: Photographe (est. $30,000-50,000), containing 16 original photographs of some of Cartier-Bresson鈥檚聽most famous images. This comes from the collection of photographer and publisher Paul Ickovic, whom聽Cartier-Bresson describes in an appreciative personal inscription as 鈥榯he Godfather鈥� of the book.
Two important and massive multi-media works by Peter聽Beard will be featured in the auction. Lion鈥檚 Pride,聽Southern Serengeti (est. $100,000-150,000)聽combines one of Beard鈥檚 photographs of lions with his聽own drawings and inscriptions, as well as those of the聽African artists Mathenge Kivoi and E. Mwangi Kuria. In聽Diary Page Diptych: October 14 (Ele. Embryo, MP 1)聽/March (Bacon and E. Taylor, MP 2) (est. $70,000-聽100,000), which was exhibited at the artist鈥檚 1996聽Carnets Africains exhibition in Paris, Beard adventurously聽collages a multitude of printed and three-dimensional聽objects around large-scale reproductions of his diarypages.
Other contemporary offerings include Robert Mapplethorpe鈥檚 large-format Calla Lilly (est. $60,000-聽80,000), as well as two early works in frames and silk mats designed by Mapplethorpe himself:
Carnations (est. $30,000-50,000), exhibited in his groundbreaking exhibition The Perfect Moment, and聽Amanda Lear (est. $15,000-20,000). Large-scale color work by Candida Hofer, Robert Polidori, Erwin聽Olaf, Joann Verburg, Elger Esser, and Lewis Baltz will also be featured.
*Estimates do not include buyers premium
The works in the sale will be on view in Sotheby鈥檚 York Avenue galleries from Friday 1 October
