Auction: Photographies, October 29, 2008 @Yann Le Mouel, Paris

With the New York season tailing off, we are now moving onward to the European fall season, with Yann Le Mouel (Paris) the first up. The material in this sale is heavy on European, particularly French, photographers (as to be expected), but generally, it is a broad-based sale of pieces from all over, with a significant amount of lower priced work available (many lots with a high estimate under $1000 Euros). There are a total of 322 lots up for sale, for a total high estimate of 872800 Euros.

Here's the breakdown (break points in Euros chosen to roughly match the break points used in dollars for the US sales):

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to 7500 Euros): 310
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): 546800 Euros

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between 7500 Euros and 35000 Euros): 10
Total Mid Estimate: 206000 Euros

Total High Lots (high estimate above 35000 Euros): 2
Total High Estimate: 120000 Euros

We are always struck when the European catalogues start to arrive at just how subtly different the photographic aesthetic is from the dominant American view (a large generalization I realize, but meaningful for us nevertheless). Seen over a handful of lots, it's easy to miss or gloss over; seen over hundreds of lots, across many photographers known and unknown, the difference in overall feel (or the "eye") becomes very much more pronounced.

Below are a handful of lots we find of interest:

• Lot 57 Albert Rudomine, Nu feminin, c1925
• Lot 78 Roger Parry, Nu, 1930
• Lot 108 Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Liba, Mexico, 1979
• Lot 116 Germaine Krull, Pont de Crimee, Paris, 1927/1960
• Lot 158 Margaret Bourke-White, Aluminum Rods & Bars in Stock, 1939 (image at right)

While we have monitored sales at Yann Le Mouel over the years, we have never actually been a successful bidder/buyer, so we would certainly welcome any comments from other collectors about working with the specialists there or their experience in getting a work paid for, packed and shipped back to the US.

Photographies
October 29th

Yann Le Mouel
22, Rue Chauchat
75009 Paris