Auction: Saturday @Phillips, London, September 6, 2008

JTF (just the facts): Out of a total of 454 lots in this sale, I counted 96 lots of photography, mostly contemporary works. Here's the highly eclectic list of photographers represented in the sale (many completely unknown to us):

Nobuyoshi Araki
Eve Arnold
Miriam Backstrom
Vanessa Beecroft
Christian Boltanski
Frank Breuer
Danielle Buetti
Jeff Burton
Martino Coppes
Tim Davis
Carl De Keyzer
Thomas Demand
Gotz Diergarten
Tracey Emin
Jenny Gage
Claus Goedicke
Douglas Gordon
Rodney Graham
Tim Hailand
Jitka Hanzlova
Naoya Hatekeyama
Eberhard Havekost
Frances Kearney
Alberto Korda
Idris Khan
Daniel Kramer
Luisa Lambri
Louise Lawler
Ryuiji Miyamoto
Liliana Moro
Eadward Muybridge (what's he doing in here?)
Helmut Newton
Seamos Nicolson
Walter Niedermayer
Michael James O’Brien
Tod Papageorge
Martin Parr
Richard Prince
Rankin
Gerhard Richter
Mick Rock
Daniela Rossell
Thomas Ruff
John Schabel
Roy Schatt
Wilhelm Schurmann
Mark Seliger
Andres Serrano
Yinka Shonibare
Alice Springs
Hannah Starkey
Beat Streuli
Jock Sturges
Hiroshi Sugimoto
Wolfgang Tillmans
Massimo Vitali
Celine Van Balen
Bernard Venet
Bettina Von Zweil
John Waters
James Welling
Weng Fen
Anita Witek
Shizuka Yokomizu
Zhu Ming

Comments/Context: Saturday @Phillips is an intentionally mixed bag sale designed for newer/entry level collectors (I think). This sale has everything from contemporary paintings and prints to Japanese action figures and toys, with furniture, watches, and jewelry thrown in for good measure. Nearly all of the lots are low priced, so these sales can be a place to pick up a bargain or take a chance on something without breaking the bank.

Collector's POV: While there are plenty of interesting lots in this particular sale, only a very few would really fit into our collection in any way. Here are three that would potentially work in our city/industrial genre:

• Frank Breuer, Untitled, 2002: Frank Breuer was a student of the Bechers I believe. We have seen some of his recent work (telephone poles) and I like this image of cargo containers.


• Wilhelm Schurmann, Genk, Belgium, 1978: This work is reminiscent of other 1970's industrial/topographic photography. We're not familiar with the photographer, but the image is strong.


• James Welling, Glessner House Service Entrance, Chicago, Illinois, 1885-87, 1988: This is earlier architectural work by Welling, reminiscent of Szarkowski's Louis Sullivan pictures. He has done some recent florals that are also of interest to us.

Saturday @ Phillips
September 6, 2008

Phillips De Pury & Company
Howick Place
London, SW1P 1BB