Monday, May 17, 2010

Auctions: The Photographs Sale, May 19, 2010 @Bloomsbury London, Rome and New York

Rather than spread out its Photographs sales for London, Rome and New York across multiple months, Bloomsbury has taken the unusual step of scheduling all three back to back on one day (leveraging Internet bidding) and placing all the lots in one handy catalog. There are certainly some economies of scale with this approach and likely some cross pollination of geographies that wouldn't normally have happened.

In general, all three sales are filled with lower end material; there are no High lots in any of the sessions. Each sale has its own primary currency, which makes aggregating the financial data a bit trickier. In the London sale, there are a total of 120 lots on offer, with a Total High Estimate of £252100. In the Rome sale, there are a total of 178 lots on offer, with a Total High Estimate of 282050€. And in the New York sale, there are a total of 126 lots on offer, with a Total High Estimate of $490700. I've outlined the statistical details for each session separately below. (Catalog cover at right, via Bloomsbury.)

London: Session I

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including £5000): 113
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): £190100

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between £5000 and £25000): 7
Total Mid Estimate: £62000

Total High Lots (high estimate above £25000): 0
Total High Estimate: NA

The top lot by High estimate in this session is lot 27, Eugenio Courret, Vistas Monumentos Y Tipos De Lima, 1870, at £10000-15000.

Here is the list of the photographers who are represented by three or more lots in this portion of the sale (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Willy Ronis (7)
Constantin Brancusi (4)
Harry Benson (3)
Bill Brandt (3)
Brassai (3)
Elliot Erwitt (3)
Jacques-Henri Lartigue (3)
Leni Riefenstahl (3)
Orthon Von Ostheim (3)

Rome: Session II

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including 7500€): 175
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): 243050€

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between 7500€ and 35000€): 3
Total Mid Estimate: 39000€

Total High Lots (high estimate above 35000€): 0
Total High Estimate: NA

The top lot by High estimate in this session is effectively tied between lot 227 (the cover lot), Robert Mapplethorpe, Patti Smith, N.Y.C., 1976, at 10000-15000€, and lot 280, Elio Luxardo, Pietro Donzelli, Federico Vender and others, Con una piccola Rondine, 1951, at 12000-15000€.

Here is the list of the photographers who are represented by three or more lots in this portion of the sale (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Edouard Boubat (5)
Willy Ronis (5)
Thomas Hopker (4)
Andre Kertesz (4)
Vincenzo Castella (3)
Denise Colomb (3)
Robert Doisneau (3)
Mario Giacomelli (3)
Luigi Ghirri (3)
Mimmo Jodice (3)
Federico Patellani (3)
Domenico Riccardo Peretti Griva (3)
Fulvio Roiter (3)

While not one of the top lots, lot 211, Gabriele Basilico, Rotterdam, 1986, at 2800-3200€, is one of our favorite images by Basilico. (image at right, via Bloomsbury)

New York: Session III

This session includes both photographs and photobooks.

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including $10000): 123
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): $438700

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between $10000 and $50000): 3
Total Mid Estimate: $52000

Total High Lots (high estimate above $50000): 0
Total High Estimate: NA

The top photography lot by High estimate in this session is tied between lot 417, Imogen Cunningham, Nude, 1932/1960 and lot 426, Marilyn Minter, Mardi Gras, 2007, both at $15000-20000.

The following is the list of photographers represented by three or more lots in this portion of the sale (with the number of lots in parentheses):

George Barris (3)
Elliot Erwitt (3)
Andre Kertesz (3)
William Klein (3)
Daido Moriyama (3)
Weegee (3)

Complete lot by lot catalogs are available for London (here), Rome (here), and New York (here).

Photographs
May 19th

Bloomsbury Auctions

24 Maddox Street
Mayfair
London W1S 1PP

Palazzo Colonna
via della Pilotta 19
00187, Roma

6 West 48th Street
New York, NY 10036

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