August Sander: Citizens of the Twentieth Century @Houk

JTF (just the facts): A total of 34 black and white photographs, framed in black and mounted, and hung against almond colored walls in the main gallery space. All of the works are posthumous gelatin silver prints with black borders, printed by Gerd Sander in 1990. 29 of the prints are roughly 10x7, in editions of 12. There are also 5 larger prints, ranging from 23x13 to 23x18 in size. The images were originally made by August Sander between 1906 and 1940. (Installation shots at right.)

Comments/Context: I doubt that there are any words worth adding to the celebration of August Sander's landmark photography project Citizens of the Twentieth Century. His ambitious and exhaustive portrait of the German people has influenced generations of photographers from across the globe, as evidenced by recent paired showings here in New York with both Seydou Keïta (here) and Boris Mikhailov (here). Edwynn Houk as recently taken on representation of the August Sander family collection, and this show is a foundation sampler of images from this iconic project.

The prints in this exhibit are not vintage rarities, but posthumous prints made by Gerd Sander relatively recently. So instead of the warm patina of age, they have a sharp crispness of silver tonality, making them seem surprisingly modern. The pastry cook, the bricklayer, the boxers, the three young farmers, the pairs of children, the soldier, they are all brisk and refreshed rather than tired. Several of the images have been enlarged to roughly twice the original size (I had never seen these before), but they too are clean and lively.

While this show doesn't give us any particularly new or original insights on August Sander, seeing a strong grouping of his portraits like this one never fails to impress. It's proof that greatness doesn't age, and that the true masters of the medium can be revisited time and again without becoming stale.

Collector's POV: The prints in this show are priced as follows. The 10x7 prints are either $4500 or $6000. The larger prints (roughly 23x16) are either $12000 or $18000. Sander's photographs are widely available in the secondary markets, including portraits, landscapes, and later prints/portfolios made by both Gunther and Gerd Sander. As a result, prices vary widely, from as little as $1000 for lesser known images to more than $100000 for iconic vintage portraits.

Rating: * (one star) GOOD (rating system described here)

Transit Hub:

• Feature: Wall Street Journal, 2008 (here)
• Exhibit: SFMOMA, 2002 (here)

August Sander: Citizens of the Twentieth Century

Through May 12th

Edwynn Houk Gallery
745 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10151

August Sander/Boris Mikhailov: German Portraits @Pace MacGill

JTF (just the facts): A total of 23 black and white and color photographs, hung against grey walls in the main rooms of the gallery. All of the works by August Sander (11 prints in total) are gelatin silver prints hinged to board, framed in blond wood, and taken between 1924 and 1943. Each image is sized roughly 10x7, in an edition of 12. All of the works by Boris Mikhailov (12 prints in total) are archival pigment prints mounted to Sintra, framed in white, and taken in 2008. Each image is sized 29x20, in an edition of 5. A monograph of Mikhailov's body of work, Maquette Braunschweig, was published by Steidl in 2009 (here). There is no photography allowed in the gallery, so the installation shots at right are via the Pace/MacGill website.

Comments/Context: The pairing of contemporary portrait photography with the work of August Sander has now become a kind of subculture of exhibition all its own. Given Sander's wide ranging influence in the genre, showing paired juxtapositions of old and new offers an opportunity to set a baseline and provide aesthetic comparisons. Using Sander's formal portraits as a kind of gold standard, these exhibits both reinforce Sander's importance, and provide visual connections across photographic history.
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Sander's foil in this show is Ukranian photographer Boris Mikhailov, and the pairing is particularly apt since Mikhailov just did a recent series of portraits of German citizens from the town of Braunschweig. So not only are their stylistic parallels to discover, but their are also social and cultural angles to be explored, separated by 70 years. The selection of Sander images has been meticulously edited and hung, placing like poses and profiles in small groups, rigidly reinforcing commonality and repetition in the gestures and looks.

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Mikhailov's newer portraits are even more strict in their composition: crisp head shot profiles against deep black backgrounds. This approach accents the line of the profile, and the details of chins, noses and foreheads become more prominent, like a figure and ground illusion. Mikhailov's portraits take Sander's idea of the subject who is both an individual and a type to its logical extreme, where images of the men and women show quirks of hair style, skin, personality and genetics, while seeming anthropologically scientific at the same time. The portraits are simultaneously wholly contemporary and unabashedly classic, connecting to Ruff's deadpan frontal portraits from the late 1980s and Old Masters paintings with equal power.
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In general, this is a thoughtful, subdued pairing, which to some degree mutes in the freshness of Mikhailov's works. This duet highlights ties to the past, reinforcing historical links and echoes, where a more contemporary pairing might have given the Mihkailov portraits a more radical frame. Regardless, it's a refreshingly solid one two punch of German portraiture.
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Collector's POV: The photographs in this show are priced at as follows. The Sander prints are $4500 each. Sander's photographs are widely available in the secondary markets, including portraits, landscapes, and later prints/portfolios made by both Gunther and Gerd Sander. As a result, prices vary widely, from as little as $1000 for lesser known images to more than $100000 for iconic vintage portraits. The Mikhailov prints are $7500 each. Mikhailov's work has only been sparsely available at auction; prices have ranged between roughly $3000 and $30000, but the number of lots up for sale has been small. As a result, gallery retail may still be the best option for those collectors interested in his work.
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Rating: * (one star) GOOD (rating system described here)
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Transit Hub: 

• Exhibit: August Sander: People of the Twentieth Century @Getty, 2008 (here)
• Mikhailov Feature: Deutsche Bank ArtMag (here)

August Sander/Boris Mikhailov: German Portraits

Through March 5th

Pace/MacGill Gallery

32 East 57th Street

New York, NY 10022

August Sander and Seydou Keïta, Portraiture and Social Identity @Walther Collection

JTF (just the facts): A total of 55 black and white works by Seydou Keïta and August Sander, generally framed in black and matted, and hung in the main gallery space (with a dividing wall) and the side book alcove. There are 19 images by Keïta, taken between 1950 and 1959, most of which are modern or posthumous prints; there are 4 vintage prints (much smaller in size) and 1 self portrait on view in the side room. There are also 36 images by Sander, taken between 1910 and 1929; these prints were made by Gerd Sander in 1994, in an edition of 3. (Installation shots at right.)

Comments/Context: The second show at the Walther Collection Project Space matches the iconic portraiture of German photographer August Sander with 1950's portraits made by the Malian studio master Seydou Keïta. For most collectors, both of these bodies of work will likely be well known, and one might think that as a result, this show would be somewhat tired; on the contrary, their familiarity doesn't diminish the resonance between them in the slightest, and in fact, when seen together, I saw facets of each that I hadn't noticed before.

The pairing highlights the idea that both photographers were capturing societies in flux. In the past, I had tended to look at Sander's portraits individually, seeing the greatness of isolated single portraits of various types of people, all captured with Sander's signature deadpan, unembelleished, frontal style. When seen together as a group, I started to see the societal movement in between the portraits that Sander was actually documenting. In the beginning, there are stern farmers and country families, matched with coal miners, priests, and rural schoolteachers. But as the society began to change and more people moved to the cities, suddenly there were new occupations to document: bohemians and revolutionaries, writers and painters, politicians and more middle class families. In this period of time (1910s and 1920s), German society was being transformed from rural to more industrial/urban, and Sander's project captured much more of this wholesale national change than I ever really understood.

Keïta's photographs come at this same idea, but with a much different stylistic approach. 1950s Bamako was a place where traditional African society was mixing with post-colonial Westernism, creating a melting pot of visual and cultural influences. Keïta's portraits capture the aspirational aspects of his clients, their desire to create an identity, to be modern. Juxtaposing vibrant African fabrics with bold patterns (as backgrounds) with Western props like cars, radios, handbags, and sunglasses, he made posed portraits that found the essence of the mood of the times, with one foot in the past and one in the future. I particularly enjoyed seeing the intimate vintage prints in the side room (yellowed and wrinkled from age), as they seem to be a more authentic representation of Keïta's process than the larger, more contrasty modern prints.

Both sets of images consistently document formal dignity and grace, an almost regal quality that has nothing to do with wealth or station in life. Steely eyes peer out and tell stories of hopes and dreams and of the constraints of life in a changing world. Even though you've likely seen these images before, the quality of portraiture on view in this small show is nothing short of superlative, and the pairing makes both richer from the comparison.
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Collector's POV: Since this is a non-commercial space, no prices were available for the works on view. Keïta's prints come up at auction from time to time, but very few are vintage; prices have ranged from roughly $2000 to $15000 in recent years. Sander's prints are much more available in the secondary markets; there are portraits, landscapes, and later prints/portfolios made by both Gunther and Gerd Sander. As a result, prices vary widely, from as little as $1000 for lesser known images to more than $100000 for iconic vintage portraits.
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Rating: ** (two stars) VERY GOOD (rating system described here)
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Transit Hub:

• Seydou Keïta artist site (here)
• Keïta background: NY Times, 2006 (here)

August Sander and Seydou Keïta, Portraiture and Social Identity
Extended through March 10th
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The Walther Collection

526 West 26th Street

Suite 718

New York, NY 10001

Auction Results: Photography and Contemporary Art, May 30 and June 1, 2011 @Lempertz

The results from the recent Photography and Contemporary Art sales at Kunsthaus Lempertz in Cologne were generally on the soft side. The overall Buy-In rate was over 40% and the Total Sale Proceeds fell meaningfully below the estimate target. (Lempertz does not provide an estimate range in most cases, just a single estimate number, so this figure is used as the High estimate in our calculations). A pair of winding tower typologies from the Bechers helped to keep the sale above water.

The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):

Total Lots: 214
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: 540550€
Total Lots Sold: 123
Total Lots Bought In: 91
Buy In %: 42.52%
Total Sale Proceeds: 372370€

Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post, here):

Low Total Lots: 204
Low Sold: 118
Low Bought In: 86
Buy In %: 42.16%
Total Low Estimate: 315550€
Total Low Sold: 231370€

Mid Total Lots: 7
Mid Sold: 3
Mid Bought In: 4
Buy In %: 57.14%
Total Mid Estimate: 105000€
Total Mid Sold: 47400€

High Total Lots: 3
High Sold: 2
High Bought In: 1
Buy In %: 33.33%
Total High Estimate: 120000€
Total High Sold: 93600€
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The top lot by High estimate was tied between three lots, each estimated at 30000-40000€. Two of the lots were groups of 4 winding tower prints by Bernd and Hilla Becher (each individual image titled by location): lot 508 from 1974-1978, and lot 509 from 1966-1968; lot 508 sold for 38400€ and lot 509 was the top outcome of the sale at 55200€. The third was lot 590, Andreas Gursky, Furkapass, 1989; it did not sell.

78.86% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate. There were a total of 13 surprises across the two sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 5, Wilhelm Schneider, Innenaufnahme Eines Salons, 1860, at 2640€
Lot 13, Rudolph Koppitz, Bewegungsstudie, 1925, at 7440€
Lot 18, Imre Von Santho, Weisses Shantung - Kostum und Weisse Seidenmousselinbluse, 1920s, at 1440€
Lot 23, Friedrich Seidenstucker, Ohne Titel (Zwei Madchen), 1920s, at 3360€
Lot 51, August Sander, Gruppe von Burgermeistern, 1928, at 9000€ (image at right, middle, via Lempertz)
Lot 52, August Sander, Lumpenball, 1920s, at 2640€
Lot 66, Josef Ehm, Akt (Solarisation), 1936, at 2160€
Lot 70, Germaine Krull, Ohne Titel, 1928, at 2160€
Lot 71, Germaine Krull, La Tour Eiffel - Paris, Detail, 1928, at 9600€ (image at right, bottom, via Lempertz)
Lot 83, Karl Hugo Schmolz, Ohne Titel, 1940s, at 1080€
Lot 108, Charlotte March, Op-Art-Mode Von Ungaro, Paris, Fruhjahr, 1963/Later, at 1320€
Lot 118, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Acapulco, Mexico, 1964, at 2640€
Lot 192, Catherine Opie, #20 from the series Freeway, 1994, at 3000€ (image at right, top, via Lempertz)

Complete lot by lot results (for both Photography and Contemporary Art) can be found here.

Kunsthaus Lempertz
Neumarkt 3
D-50667 Köln

Auction Results: Photographie, June 16, 2010 @Van Ham

The results from the various owner photography sale at Van Ham in Cologne were generally uneventful. 32 lots were withdrawn from the auction, so I've recalculated the statistical measurements on the reduced totals, as if the missing lots had never been on offer in the first place. Vintage August Sander portraits were the best performers in the sale. Overall, the Total Sale Proceeds missed the estimate by a decent margin. (Van Ham does not provide an estimate range in most cases, just a single estimate number, so this figure is used as the High estimate in our calculations).

The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):

Total Lots: 259

Pre Sale High Total Estimate: 445750€

Total Lots Sold: 180

Total Lots Bought In: 79

Buy In %: 30.50%

Total Sale Proceeds: 364338€

Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post, here):

Low Total Lots: 252

Low Sold: 177

Low Bought In: 75

Buy In %: 29.76%

Total Low Estimate: 365750€

Total Low Sold: 309963€

Mid Total Lots: 7

Mid Sold: 3

Mid Bought In: 4

Buy In %: 57.14%

Total Mid Estimate: 80000€

Total Mid Sold: 54375€

High Total Lots: 0

High Sold: NA

High Bought In: NA

Buy In %: NA

Total High Estimate: 0€

Total High Sold: NA

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The top lot by High estimate was lot 17, Erwin Blumenfeld, Blumenfeld Color (portfolio), 1984, at 18000-20000€; it did not sell. The top outcome of the sale was lot 126, August Sander, Sänger u. Schauspieler, 1928, at 52500€. (Image at right, top, via Van Ham.)
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83.89% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate. There were a total of 11 surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

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Lot 84, Karim Saab, Foto Anschlag, 1988, at 7500€
Lot 86, Erich Kukies, Der Verkauf einer Seele bringt in keinem Fall genug, 2009, at 3625€

Lot 88, Georges Leuzinger, Rio de Janiero, 1865, at 6625€

Lot 95, Richard Petersen, Dresden 1945/Blick vom Rathausturm, 1945, at 3000€

Lot 101, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Das Bäumchen, 1929, at 32500€ (Image at right, bottom, via Van Ham.)

Lot 107, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Waldschlag, 1957, at 3750€

Lot 125, August Sander, Der Hausarzt, 1906, at 6250€

Lot 126, August Sander, Sänger u. Schauspieler, 1928, at 52500€

Lot 127, August Sander, Junglehrer, 1928, at 13750€

Lot 130, August Sander, Winkeladvokat, 1952, at 35000€

Lot 260, Hilmar Pabel, Dresden, 1949, at 1625€

Complete lot by lot results can be found here.

Van Ham Kunstauktionen
Schönhauser Straße 10 - 16
D - 50968 Köln

August Sander: Selections @Richardson

JTF (just the facts): A total of 11 gelatin silver prints, with white metal frames and antique white mats, hung in the Project Gallery in back. Most of the prints are approximately 10x8, and were printed in editions of 12. The negatives were taken by August Sander in the period between 1914 and 1931, and the prints were made posthumously by his grandson, Gerd Sander, in the 1990s. (Installation shot at right.)

Comments/Context: The small group of August Sander portraits hung in the back room at Yancey Richardson provides some important historical context for the works by Hiroh Kikai which are concurrently hung in the main gallery space in front. Sander's exhaustive effort to document the German people is one of the keystone projects in the history of the medium, and Sander's straightforward frontal style, used to capture a broad taxonomy of people, has influenced generations of photographers since. It would not be an overstatement to say that nearly all of photographic portraiture after Sander has been in some way influenced by his approach.

The selections on view are posthumous prints of some of Sander's best known images, intermingled with some lesser known but equally captivating portraits. It's a tiny sample of Sander's monumental project, but the works provide resonance and contrast with Kikai's images of contemporary Japanese citizens. While both take a head on view of the subject, Sander often placed his full frame subjects in some kind of environmental context, while Kikai's 3/4 torso images have a repeated, non-descript background. Walking back and forth between the two rooms offers some compelling juxtapositions and echoes of style.

Collector's POV: The images in this small show are priced between $3800 and $5200, including the frame. There are three sets of Sander images floating around in the market at this point: scarce vintage or early August Sander prints, the first round of posthumous prints made by Gunther Sander in the 1970s and 1980s, and the most recent round of posthumous prints made by Gerd Sander in the 1990s. Prices for vintage images range from approximately $5000 to $100000 at auction, being highly dependent on the image itself (famous versus unknown). The posthumous prints by either son or grandson tend to range between $2000 and $8000. While the prints in this show were made recently, they are well crafted images, with subtle tonal ranges and delicate black borders. While they weren't made by the hand of the master himself, they offer a surprisingly good substitute for those who fall in love with a Sander image that is otherwise unavailable.

Rating: * (1 star) GOOD (rating system described here)

Transit Hub:

• People of the Twentieth Century exhibit @Met 2004 (here)
• Art in America review, 2004, via American Suburb X (here)
• Sander's Children at Danziger Projects, 2008 (here)

August Sander: Selections
Through July 2nd

Yancey Richardson Gallery
535 West 22nd Street
New York, NY 10011