Auction: Contemporary Art, September 24, 2009 @Sotheby's

Sotheby's is up second in the early Contemporary Art season, with its auction on September 24th. Like the sale Christie's, this is a grab bag of mostly lower end material, with a few more surprises mixed in. There are a total of 34 photographic images on offer, with a total High estimate of $573000. (Catalog cover via Sotheby's at right.)

Here's the breakdown:

Total Low lots (high estimate $10000 or lower): 20
Total Low estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): $150000

Total Mid lots (high estimate between $10000 and $50000): 12
Total Mid estimate: $288000

Total High lots (high estimate over $50000): 2
Total High estimate: $135000

Below is a list of the photographers who are represented (with the total number of prints for sale in parentheses):

Nobuyoshi Araki (1)
Vanessa Beecroft (1)
Oliver Boberg (1)
Mel Bochner (1)
Hans Breder (2)
Christopher Bucklow (1)
Eric Fischl (1)
Nan Goldin (1)
Dan Graham (2)
Alfredo Jaar (1)
Mike Kelley (1)
Anselm Kiefer (1)
Micha Klein (1)
Joseph Kosuth (1)
Louise Lawler (1)
Paul McCarthy (1)
Vik Muniz (2)
Jack Pierson (2)
David Robbins (1)
Michael Rovner (3)
Jenny Saville and Glen Luchford (2)
Thomas Struth (1)
Hiroshi Sugimoto (1)
Wolfgang Tillmans (1)
Ruud Van Empel (1)
Wang Qingsong (1)
Zhang Huan (1)

For our collection, lot 272 Dan Graham's diptych Trucks, New York, NY and Row of Houses, Bayonne, NJ, 1966, would be the best fit. Given his current retrospective at the Whitney, there will likely be renewed interest in these early prints.

The lot by lot catalog can be found here. As an aside, the new Sotheby's ecatalog format, while certainly beautiful, is quite unwieldy, so patience is required.

Contemporary Art
September 24th

Sotheby's
1334 York Avenue
New York, NY 10021

Administrative note: We will be off on Monday for US Labor Day, back Tuesday. Thank goodness the summer photography drought is now over, so gallery shows, museum exhibits, and auction previews/results will take center stage once again, with photo book reviews resuming their normal place on Wednesdays.