Like Swann's sale last December, this auction is a combination of two effectively separate sales: one for photographic books and one for photographs. Across the two sales, there are 454 lots on offer, with a total High estimate of $1956100. Since the two genres are so different, I've separated the analysis of the sales into two parts below. (Catalog cover at right, via Swann.)Photographic Literature
Here's the statistical breakdown:
Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including $10000): 186
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): $286150
Total Mid Lots (high estimate between $10000 and $50000): 9
Total Mid Estimate: $152000
Total High Lots (high estimate above $50000): 0
The top lot by High estimate in the book section is lot 22, Doris Ullman, Roll, Jordan, Roll, 1933, at $25000-35000.
Below is the list of photographers represented by at least 3 lots in the book portion of the sale (with the number of lots in parentheses):
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Ed Ruscha (9)
Shomei Tomatsu (6)
Robert Frank (5)
Henri Cartier-Bresson (4)
Lee Friedlander (4)
Richard Avedon (3)
Bernd & Hilla Becher (3)
Manuel Alvarez Bravo (3)
Walker Evans (3)
Robert Heinecken (3)
The Journal of Contemporary Photography (3)
William Klein (3)
Josef Sudek (3)
.
Our favorites among the books were:
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Lot 112, Lee Friedlander, Flowers and Trees, 1981
Lot 117, Gordon Matta-Clark, Walls Paper, 1973
Lot 142, Ed Ruscha, Thirtyfour Parking Lots in Los Angeles, 1967
Lot 165, Thomas Struth, Unconscious Places, 1987
Lot 165, Thomas Struth, Unconscious Places, 1987
Lot 181, Martin Parr, Flowers, 2000
.
.
Important PhotographsHere's the statistical breakdown:
Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including $10000): 236
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): $1122950
Total Mid Lots (high estimate between $10000 and $50000): 23
Total Mid Estimate: $395000
Total High Lots (high estimate above $50000): 0
Total High Estimate: NA
The top lot by High estimate in the photographs section is lot 279, Edward Weston, Nude (Charis), 1935, at $35000-45000.
Below is the list of photographers represented by at least 4 lots in the photographs portion of the sale (with the number of lots in parentheses):
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Edward Weston (12)
Berenice Abbott (10)
Lewis Hine (10)
Andre Kertesz (7)
Edward Curtis (6)
William Henry Jackson (5)
O. Winston Link (5)
Wilhelm Von Gloeden (5)
Brett Weston (5)
Minor White (5)
Ansel Adams (4)
Ruth Bernhard (4)
Alexey Brodovitch (4)
Harry Callahan (4)
Aaron Siskind (4)
Alfred Stieglitz (4)
George Tice (4)
Our favorites among the photographs were:
Our favorites among the photographs were:
Lot 279, Edward Weston, Nude (Charis), 1935
Lot 336, Weegee, Untitled (Empire State Building distortion), 1950s
The complete lot by lot catalog (for both parts of the sale) can be found here. The 3D version is located here.
May 20th
104 East 25th Street
New York, NY 10010
Is it just me, or does this auction have a number of lots in common--including lots that actually sold--with Swann's October 22 sale of "Photographs & Photographic Literature"? I'm thinking especially of the Bentley snowflakes (minus a few images) that were sold on 10/22, and the signed Cameron of Tennyson, also sold on 10/22. I'm new to the photo auction world, but interested, and I can't help but wonder--is this resale in any way significant? Or is it common to see the same lots sold off within 9 months by the same auction house, with upped estimates following the prior sale?
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