Thursday, September 30, 2010

Auction: Photographs, October 8, 2010 @Phillips

Phillips continues the Fall Photographs season with its massive various owner sale on the 8th. It's a broad mix of material, with special attention paid to Ruth Bernhard and Harry Callahan, and yet another installment of Mapplethorpes from Lisa Lyon. Not too many unexpected standouts in this sale, but plenty of diversity to dig through. Overall, there are a whopping 410 lots on offer, with a total High estimate of $5451700.

Here's the statistical breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including $10000): 260
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): $1669700

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between $10000 and $50000): 138
Total Mid Estimate: $2742000

Total High Lots (high estimate above $50000): 12
Total High Estimate: $1040000

The top lot by High estimate is tied between two lots: lot 47, Robert Frank, Trolley-New Orleans, 1956/1970s, (image at right, top, via Phillips), and lot 64, Richard Avedon, Brigitte Bardot, Hair by Alexandre, Paris Studio, 1959, both at $100000-150000.

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

Ruth Bernhard (26)
Harry Callahan (20)
Robert Mapplethorpe (12)
Horst P. Horst (9)
Andre Kertesz (9)
Irving Penn (9)
Herb Ritts (8)
Peter Beard (6)
Henri Cartier-Bresson (6)
Sally Mann (6)
Vik Muniz (6)
Arnold Newman (6)
Ansel Adams (5)
Walker Evans (5)
Robert Frank (5)
Lee Friedlander (5)
Helmut Newton (5)
Erwin Olaf (5)

A few images that caught my eye for our own collection include:

Lot 78, Harry Callahan, Eleanor, Chicago, 1949
Lot 159, Edward Steichen, Foxgloves, France, 1926
Lot 299, Adam Fuss, Untitled, 1995 (image at right, bottom, via Phillips)

The complete lot by lot catalog can be found here.
October 8th

Phillips De Pury & Company
450 West 15th Street
New York, NY 10011

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