Auction: Photographs, October 9, 2009 @Sotheby's

Sotheby's has opted for a single various owner sale this season and filled it with a solid collection of vintage work, offered with surprisingly conservative estimates given the quality/rarity of many of the images up for sale. Both Paul Outerbridge and Harry Callahan are represented more fully than we've seen in many years. Overall, there are 246 photographs on offer, with a total High estimate of $5292000. (Catalog cover at right, via Sotheby's.)

Here's the breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including $10000): 112

Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): $893000

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between $10000 and $50000): 120

Total Mid Estimate: $2809000

Total High Lots (high estimate above $50000): 14

Total High Estimate: $1590000

The top lot by High estimate is lot 196 Various Contemporary Photographers, The Master Collection, 1998-2009, at $200000-300000.

Below is the list of photographers represented by at least 5 items in the sale (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Ansel Adams (15)

Robert Mapplethorpe (15)

Harry Callahan (13)

Paul Outerbridge (13)

Bill Brandt (7)

Henri Cartier-Bresson (7)

Robert Frank (7)

Andre Kertesz (8)

Edwin Hale Lincoln (7)

Peter Beard (6)

Helmut Newton (6)

Edward Weston (6)

Manuel Alvarez-Bravo (5)

Diane Arbus (5)

Walker Evans (5)

Irving Penn (5)

Man Ray (5)

Francesca Woodman (5)
.

There are plenty of images to tempt us in this sale. Lots that would fit well into our collection include:

Lot 23 Edward Weston, Cabbage, 1936

Lot 66 Horst P. Horst, Calla Aethiopica, 1945/1985

Lots 81-87 Edwin Hale Lincoln, Wild Flowers of New England, Volumes I-VII, 1935 (if we were looking to acquire the complete set, the fact that these are being sold separately would be truly maddening)

Lot 96 Paul Outerbridge, The Arm, 1930 (at right, middle)

Lot 133 Bill Brandt, Belgravia, London, 1958

Lot 148 Harry Callahan, Sign Detail, 1945 (at right, bottom)

Lot 154 Harry Callahan, Light Study, 1940s

Lot 170 Robert Mapplethorpe, Lily, 1984

Lot 178 Robert Mapplethorpe, Calla Lily, 1988

Lot 241 Robert Mapplethorpe, Flower Studies, 1978
.

The complete lot by lot catalog can be found here. The eCatalogue is located here.

Photographs

October 9th

Sotheby's

1334 York Avenue

New York, NY 10021