Auction: Fine Photographs & Photobooks, April 18, 2013 @Swann

Later this week, Swann brings to market a combo photographs and photobooks auction, with the books mixed into the flow of the sale rather than pulled out at the end. The material is heavily weighted toward the lower end of the price range, with Swann's usual mix of vernacular, vintage, and modern prints. Overall, there are 301 lots available, with a total High estimate of $1884050.

Here's the statistical breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including $10000): 269
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): $1260050

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between $10000 and $50000): 32
Total Mid Estimate: $624000

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

The top lot by High estimate is tied between two lots: lot 24, Southworth & Hawes, Daguerreotype of blue-eyed woman, c1850 (image at right, middle), estimated at $30000-45000, and lot 79, Edward Weston, Charis (nude), 1935 (image at right, top), estimated at $35000-45000.

The following is the list of photographers with 5 or more lots in the sale (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Ansel Adams (14 )
Andre Kertesz (10)
Henri Cartier-Bresson (7)
Walker Evans (7)
Manuel Alvarez Bravo (5)
Harry Callahan (5)
Alfred Eisenstaedt (5)
O. Winston Link (5)
Minor White (5)

Other works of interest include lot 104, Aubrey Bodine, Curving Steps, 1943, estimated at $4000-6000 (image at right, bottom; all images via Swann).

The complete lot by lot catalog can be found here.

Fine Photographs & Photobooks
April 18th

Swann Auction Galleries
104 East 25th Street
New York, NY 10010

Auction: The Modern Image, Photographs from an Important American Collection, April 5, 2013 @Sotheby's New York

Sotheby's takes up the final position in the April run of New York photography auctions, with a pair of sales on Friday and Saturday. The first auction is a single owner sale, with the works drawn from the collection of Dr. Paul Scharf. All in, there are a total of 59 lots of photography on offer, with a total High estimate of $2950000.

Here's the statistical breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including $10000): 21
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): $181000

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between $10000 and $50000): 25
Total Mid Estimate: $589000

Total High Lots (high estimate above $50000): 13
Total High Estimate: $2180000

The top lot by High estimate is lot 18, Edward Weston, Two Shells, 1927, estimated at $600000-900000 (image at right, top, via Sotheby's).

Here's the list of photographers represented by three or more lots in the sale (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Edward Weston (5)
Frantisek Drtikol (3)
Lewis Hine (3)
Edward Steichen (3)
Karl Struss (3)

Other photographs of interest include lot 19, Frantisek Drtikol, Composition (Nude with Circles), 1928, estimated at $70000-100000 (image at right, middle, via Sotheby's) and lot 11, Edward Weston, Nude (Charis), 1934, estimated at $70000-100000 (image at right, bottom, via Sotheby's.)

The complete lot by lot catalog can be found here.

The Modern Image: Photographs from an Important American Collection
April 5th

Sotheby's
1334 York Avenue
New York, NY 10021

Auction: Photographs, April 5, 2013 @Christie's New York

Christie's various owner Photographs sale later this week gathers a wide variety of periods and styles into a dense package. There aren't too many surprises to be found here, just plenty of solid work worth a look. Overall, there are a total of 204 lots of photography available in the sale, with a total High estimate of $6512000.

Here's the statistical breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including $10000): 43
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): $333000

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between $10000 and $50000): 140
Total Mid Estimate: $3169000

Total High Lots (high estimate above $50000): 21
Total High Estimate: $3010000

The top photography lot by High estimate is lot 251, Robert Frank, Trolley-New Orleans, 1955, estimated at $400000-600000 (image at right, top, via Christie's.)

Here's the complete list of photographers represented by five or more lots in the sale (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Ansel Adams (21) Irving Penn (16) Edward Weston (10) Henri Cartier-Bresson (8) William Eggleston (8) Hiroshi Sugimoto (8) Harry Callahan (6) Eugene Smith (6) Diane Arbus (5) Brassai (5) Robert Frank (5) Jacques-Henri Lartigue (5)

Other photographs of interest include lot 228, William Eggleston, Greenwood, Mississippi, 1973/1976, estimated at $150000-250000 (image at right, middle, via Christie's) and lot 165, Edward Weston, Mexico (Tina on the Azotea), 1924, estimated at $100000-150000 (image at right, bottom, via Christie's).

The complete lot by lot catalog can be found here.

Photographs
April 5th

Christie's
20 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10020

Auction: The Delighted Eye, Modernist Masterworks from a Private Collection @Christie's New York

I have never met Carlos Cruz, but having pored over the catalog of his breathtaking single owner sale coming up at Christie's next week, I have a deep respect and affinity for his underlying process as a collector. I have never been a particular convert to the spontaneous "buy what you love" school of photography collecting, so Cruz' methodical, systematic, patient approach to building his collection resonates fully with my structured brain. While serendipity and lucky hunting are certainly part of the game of collecting, I could only nod my head in agreement with the description of Cruz' activities in the front of the catalog: a rigorous study and pre-visualization of what he was looking for, a thoughtful logic and intellectual framework, a bounded period of time (roughly late 19th century to 1925), an emphasis on single, high quality examples, and a tireless adherence to this regimen. The fact that he was able to build this collection at a distance from the major art capitals (from Santiago, Chile) makes its breadth and quality all the more remarkable.

Nearly every single work in this catalog is a subtle wow moment of one kind or another; there is very little, if any, chaff in this bundle of exceptional Modernist/Futurist/Dada wheat. Perhaps what I like best is the sense of individuality in this collection, of not picking the best known or most highly regarded image by any of the masters in this parade, but of looking hard and long enough to uncover the gems that truly represent a photographer's particular innovation or originality. There are great, unexpected choices everywhere: a great Rossler abstraction, an elegant Sudek broken dish, a tactile textured sheet by Modotti, the looming De Meyer chrysanthemums, the layered Funke bottle shadows, all extraordinary but less than obvious. Overall, there are a total of 71 lots of photography available in the sale, with a total High estimate of $7564000. I'm very much looking forward to the preview.

Here's the statistical breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including $10000): 2
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): $16000

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between $10000 and $50000): 32
Total Mid Estimate: $868000

Total High Lots (high estimate above $50000): 37
Total High Estimate: $6680000

The top photography lot by High estimate is lot 7, Edward Weston, Nude, 1925, estimated at $400000-600000 (image at right, top, via Christie's.)

Here's the complete list of photographers represented by two or more lots in the sale (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Man Ray (4)
Edward Steichen (4)
Eugene Atget (2)
Anton Bruehl (2)
Etienne-Jules Marey (2)
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy (2)
Alfred Stieglitz (2)

In an astonishing sale like this, it's nearly impossible to single out just a few lots that are of particular interest. That said, here are two that had me shaking my head with amazement: lot 31, Alvin Langdon Coburn, Vortograph (The Eagle), 1917, estimated at $200000-300000 (image at right, middle, via Christie's) and lot 24, Edward Steichen, Bricks (West 86th Street), New York, c1922, estimated at $200000-300000 (image at right, bottom, via Christie's).

The complete lot by lot catalog can be found here.

The Delighted Eye: Modernist Masterworks from a Private Collection
April 4th

Christie's
20 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10020

2012 AIPAD Review, Part 2 of 2

This is Part 2 of my 2012 AIPAD Review, covering the New York area galleries and a few others located in the larger Northeast (organized alphabetically). The rest of the galleries from around the world, as well as the background on the format I am using, can be found in Part 1 (here).

Bonni Benrubi Gallery (here): Matthew Pillsbury (2), Karine Laval (2), Massimo Vitali (1), Paolo Pellegrin (2), Abelardo Morell (4), Jim Marshall (3), William Gottlieb (2), Amalie Rothschild (1), Linda McCartney (2), Chris Payne (2), Simon Norfolk (1). In this intricate new work, Morell seems to be heading toward Sommer's cut paper collages. (priced at $5000)

Danziger Gallery (here): Robert Frank (8), Christopher Bucklow (1), Karen Knorr (2), Garry Fabian Miller (6), Hendrik Kerstens (2), Susan Derges (2), Chris Levine (1), Yuji Obata (4), Evelyn Hofer (4). My interest in Kerstens' portraits persists, and the two new images in the booth here hold the wall with authority. The aluminum hat is strangely lovely. (priced at $10000)

After seeing so much abstract work from Miller, I was surprised to discover these brand new photograms of flowers. They are small and delicate, in soft colors. (priced at $10000)

Keith De Lellis Gallery (here): Flip Schulke (1), Irving Penn (7), Horst P. Horst (2), Cecil Beaton (1), George Platt Lynes (1), Florence Meyer Homolka (1), Richard Avedon (1), Ruth Bernhard (3), Gleb Derujinsky (1), Margaret Bourke-White (3), Edward Steichen (4), Jorgen Roos (3), Eric Schaal (2), Nino Migliori (1), Herbert Matter (3), Brassai (2), Keld Helmer-Petersen (1), Arnold Newman (1), Weegee (1), Simpson Kalisher (2), Beauford Smith (3), Marvin Newman (1), Henri Cartier-Bresson (1), Alexander Rodchenko (1), Barbara Morgan (1). There was plenty of fabulous vintage work in this booth, anchored by a group of Steichens, with help from several Bourke-Whites and Bernhards. This 1925 Steichen boat (tucked on a side wall) was my favorite image in the entire fair. (priced at $125000)

Gitterman Gallery (here): Gita Lenz (2), Frederick Sommer (1), Edmund Teske (3), Arthur Siegel (1), Hiroshi Sugimoto (3), Adam Bartos (1), Ralph Eugene Meatyard (9), Saul Leiter (2), Robert Frank (1), Leon Levinstein (1), Nan Goldin (1), Edward Weston (1), plus 2 bins. A classic Weston industrial image - Middletown, OH steel smokestacks from 1922. (priced at $300000)

Howard Greenberg Gallery (here): Edward Steichen (2), Berenice Abbott (1), Jaromir Funke (1), Sid Grossman (5), William Klein (3), Bruce Davidson (4), Laszlo Moholy-Nagy (1), Jerome Liebling (1), Martin Munkacsi (1), Robert Frank (1), Bill Brandt (1), Brett Weston (1), Dorothea Lange (1), David Goldblatt (1 diptych), Saul Leiter (7). This 1915 Steichen is one of the most iconic florals in photographic history; not to be missed. (priced at $275000)

Higher Pictures (here): George Dureau (5), Jessica Eaton (4), Emily Roysdon (12). I like that these new Eaton abstractions are getting more and more visually complex. (priced at $4000)

I hadn't ever heard of George Dureau until Kim gave me some background on him. Apparently, Mapplethorpe knew him in the early 1980s and admired his work. The aesthetic affinity is quite clear, especially in the made nudes of men with amputations. (priced at $4000)

Edwynn Houk Gallery (here): Joel Meyerowtiz (1), Vera Lutter (1), Robert Frank (1), Man Ray (1), Sally Mann (1), Bill Brandt (5), Alfred Stieglitz (1), Sebastiaan Bremer (1), Lee Friedlander (1), Dannyn Lyon (1), Herb Ritts (6), Stephen Shore (1), Robert Polidori (1). The series of close up Brandt eyes on the back wall of this booth was an unexpected treat.

Robert Klein Gallery (here): Jessica Backhaus (5), Francesca Woodman (8), Cig Harvey (4), Henri Cartier-Bresson (2), Walker Evans (2), Aaron Siskind (1), Mario Giacomelli (1), Brassai (1), Lee Friedlander (1), Berenice Abbott (2), Irving Penn (5), Harry Callahan (3), Edward Weston (2), Elliot Erwitt (1).

Hans P. Kraus Jr. Inc. (here): Louis-Emile Durandelle (2), Charles Soulier (2), Julia Margaret Cameron (3), Rufus Anson (1), William Henry Fox Talbot (6), Henri Courmont (1), Jospeh Vicomte Vigier (1), Eugene Cuvelier (1), Gustave Le Gray (1), Unknown (2), Edward Steichen (2), Guillaume Duchenne De Boulogne (1), Etienne-Jules Marey (1), Putnam & Valentine (1), Guillaume Duchenne De Boulogne and Adrian Tournachon (1), Andre Adolphe Eugene Disderi (1).

Robert Mann Gallery (here): Julie Blackmon (4), Leo Goldstein (1), Lisette Model (1), Dan Weiner (1), Weegee (1), Aaron Siskind (1), David Vestal (1), Fred Stein (2), Jorn Vahnhofen (1), Lewis Baltz (1), Robbert Flick (1), Henry Wessel (1), Richard Misrach (2), Jeff Brouws (1), Joe Deal (2), Michael Kenna (4), Chip Hooper (1), Minor White (1), Ansel Adams (1).

Yossi Milo Gallery (here): Sze Tsung Leong (1), Ezra Stoller (2), Lise Sarfati (2), Tim Hetherington (8), Doug Rickard (2), Alison Rossiter (3), Chris McCaw (2), Matthew Brandt (1), Pieter Hugo (1).

Yancey Richardson Gallery (here): Kenneth Josephson (4), Andrew Moore (1), Victoria Sambunaris (1), Laura Letinsky (1), Olivo Barbieri (1), Rachel Perry Welty (2), Bernd and Hilla Becher (1 set of 9), Sharon Core (4).

Julie Saul Gallery (here): Rineke Dijkstra (2), Justine Reyes (2), Charlotte Dumas (2), Jeff Chien-Hsing Liao (1), Reiner Gerritsen (1), Gonzalo Puch (1), Didier Massard (1), Sarah Anne Johnson (1), Miroslav Tichy (5), Gerard Petrus Fieret (2), Nikolai Bakharev (4).

Michael Shapiro Photographs (here): Irving Penn (3), Andre Kertesz (2), Josef Koudelka (1), Jaromir Funke (2), Henri Cartier-Bresson (1), Imogen Cunningham (1), Elmer Blew (1), Harry Callahan (1), John Gutman (1), Ansel Adams (2), Dorothea Lange (1), Edward Weston (2), Robert Frank (7), Walker Evans (1), Edward Steichen (1), William Klein (1), Minor White (4), and a wall covering selection of small Jefferson Hayman works. I thoroughly enjoyed the layered shadows in this cut paper Funke. (priced at $80000)

The crusted snow by White was an image I had never seen before and is apparently unique; I liked its sinuous figure/ground form. (priced at $18000)

Bruce Silverstein Gallery (here): Edward Weston (1), Lotte Jacobi (1), Edward Steichen (1), Robert Frank (1), Aaron Sikind (2), Lisette Model (4), Andre Kertesz (5), Constantin Brancusi (6), Trine Sondergaard (1), Ryan Weideman (6), Michael Wolf (2), Trine Sondergaard & Nicolai Howalt (5), Keith Smith (28). Bruce has a show of Brancusi photographs coming up, and from the looks of this small selection of prints, it's going to be a superlative exhibit. This shiny gem was priced at $250000.

While the idea is straightforward, I liked these enveloping snowstorm trees by Trine Søndergaard and Nicolai Howalt on the outside of the booth. The whiteout is supremely silent.

L. Parker Stephenson Photographs (here): Chris Killip (1), Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen (2), Walker Evans (1), John Cohen (4), Mike Disfarmer (1), Andre De Dienes (1), Erwin Blumenfeld (1), Claude Tolmer (1), Anton Bruehl (1), Gyorgy Kepes (1), Gordon Koster (2), W. Eugene Smith (2), Jan Yoors (3), Inge Morath (1). Parker spent some time giving me some further context on 1970s/1980s British photography and introducing me to the terrific early 1970s photographs of Byker by Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen. (priced at $2500/$3000)

Gallery 339 (here): Philip Toledano (1), Edward McHugh (4), Richard Kagan (2), Amanda Means (1), Ion Zupcu (4), Tetsugo Hayakutake (1), Martine Fougeron (2), Rita Bernstein (2), Yuichi Hibi (3), William Larson (2), Nadine Rovner (2).

Rick Wester Fine Art (here): Richard Avedon (2), Ralph Eugene Meatyard (2), Cindy Sherman (1 diptych), Bill Brandt (3), Joni Sternbach (2), Christian Vogh (1), Marilyn Minter (1), Andres Serrano (1), Laurie Lambrecht (1, 1 diptych), Sharon Harper (1), Sandi Fifield (1), Ken Schles (2), Irving Penn (2), Stephen Shore (1). As collectors of Brandt nudes, we are always on the look out for vintage prints that come out of the woodwork. This was the best Brandt nude I saw at the fair. (priced at $24000)

Sasha Wolf Gallery (here): Andrew Borowiec (6), Peter Kayafas (4), David Nadel (4), Katherine Wolkoff (8), Tribble and Mancenido (1), Paul McDonough (4), Eleanor Carucci (4), TrujilloPaumier (8).

Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery (here): Edward Burtynsky (2), Ola Kohlemainen (1), Jim Campbell (1), Niko Luoma (1), Susanna Majuri (2), Shirley Shor (1).

David Zwirner (here): A solo booth show of the work of Philip-Lorca diCorcia (11). Glad to see Zwirner showing at AIPAD and embracing the photography world. This small sampler spanned many of diCorcia's projects, including a couple of newer works.

2012 AIPAD Review, Part 1 of 2

With two sessions at this year's AIPAD under my belt (the opening night event and a solid bunch of hours yesterday afternoon), I can say with confidence that the overall sophistication of this anchor event in the NY photo year continues to increase. There are less overcrowded, bin stuffed booths, more well edited and thoughtful displays, and slowly but surely, a little more contemporary work is creeping into this traditionally vintage affair. The gala Wednesday evening was polished and well attended, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing countless old friends, and meeting some of the many collectors, curators, critics, artists and gallery owners that I had previously known only by email or reputation. Year after year, there is an evolution away from casual, table based selling and a movement toward more refined service.

While I left my notebook at home on opening night, I was more systematic yesterday, covering the fair aisle by aisle, booth by booth. My notes cover approximately 40+ booths in some level of detail, generally listing the photographers with works on view, the number of prints on display, and in some cases, specific works that I thought merited attention or were new. Of course, my coverage of this show is perhaps more personally biased towards our own collecting interests than normal, and there is a significant amount of vintage work on display, so my apologies in advance if my selections are overly dominated by black and white. Also, I have generally refrained from talking about work which I have recently covered in review form; this provides some limits for my discussion, especially for those galleries that have opted for a sampler from the current stable.

My review is divided into two parts. This first part covers a selection of the out of town galleries, in alphabetical order. The second part will cover some of the New York galleries, as well as a few close by Northeastern neighbors. Covering this entire sprawling show in exhaustive detail is beyond the scope of what I can realistically deliver, so please don't take it personally if I have omitted your gallery or your work. My goal is to give readers a flavor of what I thought was intriguing and thought provoking, not to provide an analysis of every image on view, in the bins/flat files, and under the tables.

Stephen Bulger Gallery (here): Robert Bourdeau (4), Andre Kertesz (2, 1 diptych, 1 set of 5), Gilbert Garcin (6), Fausta Faccipone (1), Allison Rossiter (11), Clive Holden (1 set of 4), Scott Conarroe (1), Dave Heath (1 set of 6), Jospeh Hartman (1), Benoit Aquin (1). Lots of new abstract poured/dipped chemical Rossiters here, a few almost like landscapes or starry skies.

John Cleary Gallery (here): Susan Burnstine (3), Maggie Taylor (3), Ansel Adams (1), Henri Cartier-Bresson (2), Robert Mapplethorpe (1), Robert Doisneau (1), Gordon Parks (1), Willy Ronis (1), Sanko Abadric (1), Renate Aller (2), David Fukos (2), John Chakeres (2), Brett Weston (2). Had a thoughtful discussion about pricing in the market for Mapplethorpe flowers in this booth, triggered by the Tiger Lily on display priced at $40000.

Stephen Daiter Gallery (here): John Gossage (2), Imogen Cunningham (3), Art Sinsabaugh (2), Adam Fuss (1), Andre Kertesz (4), Harry Callahan (1), Stanley Kubrick (1), Weegee (3), Sid Grossman (1), Marvin Newman (1), Aaron Siskind (1), Minor White (1), Frederick Sommer (2), Alex Webb (4). I continue to find Sinsabaugh's elongated Midwestern landscapes to be powerfully original; this one was priced at $16000 and already sold.

Catherine Edelman Gallery (here): Gary Briechle (9), John Cyr (9), Daniel Beltra (1), Viktoria Sorochinski (4), Lauren Simonutti (10), Kelli Connell (2), Gregory Scott (1). Briechle's gelatin silver prints from wet plate collodion negatives are darkly old school. Look closely at scar on this wrinkled hand, echoed by the gathering of the sleeve (reasonably priced at $1400 each). John Cyr's images of the developer trays of famous photographers (Mann, Siskind, Gowin, Davidson etc.) were also drawing a crowd.

Etherton Gallery (here): Harry Callahan (7), Manuel Alvarez Bravo (4), Frederick Sommer (6), Emmet Gowin (4), Allen Ginsberg (1), August Sander (1), Duane Michals (1), John Gutman (1), Wright Morris (2), Henry Wessel (3), Ansel Adams (2), Richard Misrach (3), O. Winston Link (2), Ralph Gibson (2), Lee Friedlander (2), Horace Bristol (1), Peter Stackpole (2), Rodrigo Moya (1), Ted Croner (1), Flor Garduno (1), Joel-Peter Witkin (1), Eikoh Hosoe (1), Aaron Siskind (4), Michael O'Neil (1), Danny Lyon (4). I think the flash lit mid 1970s night Misrachs are among his best; I enjoyed this one with its spiky verticals and the long exposure light trail in the sky.

Eric Franck Fine Art (here): Karen Knorr (3), Josef Koudelka (3), Graham Smith (6), Chris Killip (4), Martine Franck (4), Andy Warhol (3), Ogawa Gesshu (3), Heinz Hajek-Halke (4), Gaspar Gasparin (6), Henri Cartier-Bresson (5), Norman Parkinson (5). I continue to be impressed by Killip and Smith and wish their work was more consistently on view here in New York. There was also a terrific Warhol of stratified neckties on a side wall.

Halsted Gallery (here): Irving Penn (4), Jaromir Funke (1), Brassai (1), Wynn Bullock (1), Edward Weston (4), Andre Kertesz (2), Michael Kenna (1), Barbara Morgan (1), Bill Brandt (1), Henri Cartier-Bresson (1), Arnold Newman (2), Lucien Herve (1), Berenice Abbott (4), Cornell Capa (1), William Clift (1), Carleton Watkins (2), Don Hong-On (1), Margaret Bourke-White (1), Annie Leibowitz (1). This intimate, reasonably priced ($12000) Funke abstraction from the late 1920s was a quick seller.

Paul M. Hertzmann Inc (here): Sherril Schell (1), Clarence John Laughlin (1), Ei-Q (3), Ansel Adams (6), Henri Cartier-Bresson (1), Edward Weston (2), Alfred Stieglitz (1), Dorothea Lange (1), Man Ray (1), Carlotta Corpon (1), Eugene Atget (1), Dennis Stock (1), Frank Espada (1), Joe Schwartz (1), Roger Schall (1), Minor White (1), Ruth Bernhard (1), Gerard Petrus Fieret (1), plus 4 bins. Someone (annoyingly) snapped up this sublime Schell of Penn Station almost immediately, as it had a red dot just minutes into the evening gala.

Paul gave me a short primer on Japanese photographer Ei-Q (aka Hideo Sugita), who was apparently of Eikoh Hosoe's teachers. I very much enjoyed this densely layered photogram, made using cut paper stencils and modifications to the negative. (priced at $22500)

There were also a handful of small 1930s vintage Ansel Adams prints on view, as well as a lovely solarized calla lily by Corpon.

Michael Hoppen Gallery (here): Shomei Tomatsu (3), Miyako Ishiuchi (1), Issei Suda (1), Kishin Shinoyama (1), Hiroshi Hamaya (2), Daido Moriyama (2), Valerie Belin (2), Noe Sendas (3), Bruce Bernard (3), Sigmar Polke (1), Guy Bourdin (4), Boris Savalev (1). I liked the bold patterns of the Moriyama fishnet stocking variants here. Two new muted black and white Belins dominate the main wall.

James Hyman Photography (here): Pierre Manguin (3), Henri Le Secq (2), Bisson Freres (2), Charles Negre (4), Edmund Bacot (2), Louis Alphonse de Brebisson (1), Edmund Nicolas (1), Pierre-Emile-Joseph Pecarrere (1), Amedee Varin (1), Edouard-Denis Baldus (2), Vallou de Villeneuve (1), Henri Ange Eugene Mailand (1), Gustave Le Gray and Auguste Mestral (1), Anonymous (3), Neurdein School (1), Paul Strand (1), Edward Weston (1), Francesca Woodman (1), Lucien Clergue (2), Arthur Siegel (1), Harry Callahan (2), Eugene Atget (4), Tony Ray-Jones (4). The inside of the Hyman booth has been transformed by a well-edited selection of 19th century French church/monastery images, complete with muted light, a sculptural fragment in the center, and images of gargoyles high on the walls.

Jackson Fine Art (here): George Georgiou (2), Chip Simone (4), Frank Horvat (2), Todd Selby (1), Greg Lons (4), Todd Murphy (3), Mona Kuhn (4), Vivian Maier (3), Ruud Van Empel (3).

Kopeikin Gallery (here): Irving Penn (1), Jeffrey Milstein (2), Lee Friedlander (2), David Schoerner (1), Harry Callahan (3), Katy Grannan (2), Sally Mann (1), Peter Beard (1), Robert Frank (1), Andy Freeberg (1), Garry Winogrand (3), Chris Jordan (1), Marta Soul (1), Moby (1), Kevin Cooley (1). I liked the smaller black and white Grannan portraits in this booth best. Jordan has reworked Van Gogh's Starry Night in thousands of colored plastic lighters, a bit more painterly and Vik Muniz-like than previous images of his I've seen.

Lee Gallery (here): Walker Evans (1), Julia Margaret Cameron (1), JB Greene (1), Bisson Freres (1), Carleton Watkins (1), Charles Negre (1), Harry Callahan (7), Robert Adams (4), plus 4 bins. The Lee's booth was dominated by a string of exquisite vintage Callahans across the back wall. Below are two nudes that came out of the boxes for a closer look: a terrific early (mid 1960s) Barbara Crane, and a sculptural 1934 Weston of Charis.

M+B (here): Matthew Brandt (7), Matthew Porter (3), LeRoy Grannis (4), Lisa Jack (4). Brandt was the big story in this booth, with 3 images on a nearby outside wall made by submerging the large prints in the bodies of water they depict (leading to abstract, acidic swirls) and 4 works made out of different flavors of brightly colored chewing gum hung across the back wall.

Monroe Gallery (here): Nina Berman (4), Eric Smith (2), Rikki Reich (2), Steve Schapiro (6), Carl Mydans (1), Grey Villet (4), Bill Eppridge (7), Paul Schutzer (1), Carl Iwasaki (1), Bob Gomel (1), Martha Holmes (2), John Dominis (1), Stephen Wilkes (2). A startling Berman of a veiled woman with her diploma is on the outside wall.

Richard Moore Photographs (here): Peter Sekaer (2), Dorothea Lange (3), Marion Post Wolcott (1), Walker Evans (1), Ben Shahn (1), Ansel Adams (4), Sonya Noskowiak (1), Imogen Cunningham (1), William Post (1), Helen Levitt (1), Weegee (2), Percy Loomis Sperr (4), Eadward Mybrudge (1), plus 3 bins. The eye catching Cunningham Magnolia Blossom had a major tear, which had been repaired quite well but clearly changed its value by an order of magnitude.

Scheinbaum & Russek Ltd. (here): Aaron Siskind (3), Arnold Newman (1), Brassai (1), Jerry Uelsmann (2), Lee Friedlander (1), Paul Strand (1), John Szarkowski (1), Paul Caponigro (1), Minor White (3), Edward Weston (1), Ansel Adams (1), Brett Weston (1), Berencie Abbott (1), Harry Callahan (2), Andre Kertesz (2), Todd Webb (4), Laura Gilpin (2), Eliot Porter (6), Diane Arbus (1), Henri Cartier-Bresson (2), Manuel Alvarez Bravo (2), Van Deren Coke (2), Roy DeCarava (1), W. Eugene Smith (1).

Barry Singer Gallery (here): Elyn Zimmerman (2), Lewis Hine (1), Edmund Teske (1), Arnold Newman (2), W. Eugene Smith (1), August Sander (2), Joel-Peter Witkin (1), Garry Winogrand (1), Robert Doisneau (1), John Albok (1), Marcia Resnick (1), Lou Stoumen (3), Ansel Adams (2), William Dassonville (1), Bill Brandt (1), Brett Weston (1), Wilson Bentley (1), Charles Jones (1), Edward Weston (1), Robert Graham (7), Herb Ritts (1), Jack Welpott (1), plus 4 bins.

Joel Soroka Gallery (here): Lynn Bianchi (1), Cig Harvey (4), Franco Donnagio (1), Berencie Abbott (2), Jindrich Vanek (1), Man Ray (1), Johan Hagemeyer (1), Ilse Bing (1), Brassai (1), Brett Weston (1), Gyorgy Kepes (3), Beatrice Helg (4). While there was an excellent group of Kepes abstracts along the back wall, this elegant Hagemeyer floral caught my eye, fully priced at $40000.

Weinstein Gallery (here): Alec Soth (5), Helmut Newton (1), Robert Mapplethorpe (5), Robert Polidori (3), Vera Lutter (4), Nancy Rexroth (18). Three huge Polidoris of India cover the entire back wall of the booth; one is a dense warren of overlapping slum geometries. The Soths are from Bogota, the Lutters from Venice.

Weston Gallery (here): Oliver Gagliani (2), Harry Callahan (2), Marion Post Wolcott (2), George Tice (1), Sonya Nostowiak (1), Henri Cartier-Bresson (1), Danielle Nelson-Mourning (2), Hill & Adamson (2), Linnaeus Tripe (1), Charles Aubry (1), Andre Kertesz (1), Robert Frank (1), Johan Hagemeyer (1), Edward Weston (4), Paul Strand (2), Wynn Bullock (1), Ansel Adams (8), Imogen Cunningham (2).

Part 2 of the review can be found here.

Reinstallation of the Permanent Collection of Photography, 2011 @MoMA

JTF (just the facts): A group show consisting of a total of 214 black and white and color photographs from 141 different photographers, variously framed and matted, and hung against grey and white walls in a series of 6 connecting rooms on the third floor of the museum. The works on view span the entire history of the medium, ranging from 1841 to the present, and are arranged roughly chronologically. This reinstallation of the permanent collection of photography was curated by Sarah Meister.

The following photographers are included in the show, with the number of works and dates in parentheses. The names have been listed in their order of appearance around the galleries.

Room 1

David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson (1, 1841-1848)
John B. Greene (1, 1855-1856)
William Henry Fox Talbot (1, 1844)
Bisson Freres (1, 1841-1846)
Felice Beato (1, 1860)
Samuel Bourne (1, 1864)
Robert Hewlett (1, 1857)
Carleton Watkins (1, 1889)
Gertrude Kasebier (1, 1907)
Robert Demachy (1, 1910)
Frederick Evans (1, 1903)
Edward Steichen (1, 1900)
Jules Janssen (2, 1885)
Adam Clark Vroman (1, 1902)
Jacob Riis (1, 1890)
Radio Corporation of America (1, 1926)
E.J. Bellocq (1, 1912)
Eugene Atget (1, 1899)
Unknown (2, 1923 and 1933)
Underwood and Underwood (1, 1910)
Automatic Camera/Photomaton (1, 1928)
Arthur Bedou (1, 1915)
Dornac (1, 1892)
Lewis Hine (1, 1908)
Seeberger Freres (1, 1912)
Jacques-Henri Lartigue (1, 1917)

Room 2
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Alfred Stieglitz (1, 1922)
Jospeh Cornell (1, 1933)
Imogen Cunningham (1, 1931)
Hugo Erfurth (1, 1926)
Edward Weston (1, 1925)
Alexander Rodchenko (2, 1924 and 1932)
Stanislaw Witkiewicz (1, 1911)
Edmund Kesting (1, 1928)
Man Ray (1, 1930)
Laszlo Mohloy-Nagy (1, 1923)
Tina Modotti (1, 1924)
Umbo (1, 1930)
Walker Evans (2, 1935 and 1936)
Ben Shahn (1, 1935)
Dorothea Lange (1, 1937)
Jack Delano (1, 1940)
Marian Post Wolcott (1, 1938)
John Vachon (1, 1938)
August Sander (2, 1927 and 1929)
Eugene Atget (2, 1921 and 1925)
Brassai (1, 1932)
Ilse Bing (1, 1932)
Bill Brandt (1, 1936)
Helen Levitt (1, 1941)
Antonio Reynoso (1, 1944)
Manuel Alvarez Bravo (1, 1934)
Henri Cartier-Bresson (1, 1934)
Paul Strand (1, 1920)
Ralph Steiner (1, 1929)
Berenice Abbott (1, 1936)
Lewis Hine (1, 1930)
Arkadii Shaikhet (1, 1930)

Room 3
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Barbara Morgan (1, 1943)
Weegee (2, 1942 and 1950)
Emmy Andriesse (1, 1945)
Ernst Haas (1, 1947)
US Army Signal Corps (4, 1944 and 1945)
Dmitri Baltermans (1, 1942)
Times World Wide Photos (1, 1941)
Unknown (1, 1953)
Neal Boenzi/New York Times (1, 1956)
Meyer Liebowitz/New York Times (1, 1957)
Unknown (14 panels of vernacular families)
Robert Rauschenberg (1, 1949)
Geraldo de Barros (1, 1949)
Aaron Siskind (1, 1949)
Minor White (1, 1964)
Frederick Sommer (1, 1961)
Guy Bourdin (1, 1956)
Clarence John Laughlin (1, 1941)
Josef Sudek (1, 1954)
Ansel Adams (1, 1932)
Eugen Wiskovsky (1, 1946)
Henri Cartier-Bresson (1, 1952)
Robert Doisneau (1, 1956)
Leonard Freed (1, 1954)
Lisette Model (1, 1942)
Roy DeCarava (1, 1952)

Room 4
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Rudy Burckhardt (4, 1940)
Philip Elliott (3, 1950)
Lola Alvarez Bravo (1, 1958)
Louis Faurer (1, 1949)
Leon Levinstein (1, 1952)
Robert Frank (1, 1956)
Garry Winogrand (1, 1962)
Christian Stromholm (1, 1959)
Paolo Gasparini (1, 1968)
Diane Arbus (1, 1965)
Unknown (1, 1957)
Lee Friedlander (1, 1970)
Jerry Schatzberg (1, 1964)
Arnold Newman (1, 1955)
Richard Avedon (1, 1965)
Irving Penn (1, 1979)
Harry Callahan (2, 1957)
Zeke Berman (1, 1979)
Kenneth Josephson (1, 1967)
Martus Granirer (1, 1964)
Otto Piene (1, 1964)
Shomei Tomatsu (1, 1960)
Daido Moriyama (1, 1970)
Miyako Ishiuchi (1, 1977)
Kohei Yoshiyuki (1, 1973)

Room 5
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Joseph Dankowski (20, 1970)
David Goldblatt (1, 1967)
Ernest Cole (1, 1960-1963)
Jeane Moutoussamy-Ashe (1, 1977)
Frank Stewart (1, 1981)
Geoff Winningham (1, 1971)
Candice Lenney (1, 1977)
William Gedney (1, 1975)
Martine Barrat (1, 1984)
Stephen Shore (1, 1973)
Frank Gohlke (1, 1973-1974)
Robert Adams (1, 1974)
Lewis Baltz (1, 1974)
Joel Sternfeld (1, 1979)
Nicholas Nixon (1, 1973)
Bill Owens (1, 1972)
Tod Papageorge (1, 1969)
Henry Wessell (1, 1972)
William Eggleston (1, 1980)
Sheron Rupp (1, 1984)

Room 6
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Jan Groover (1, 2006)
Michael Spano (1, 2003)
Bernd and Hilla Becher (18, 1959-1973)
Hai Bo (2, 1999)
Philip-Lorca diCorcia (1, 1981)
Vik Muniz (1, 2003)
Tina Barney (1, 1998)
William Christenberry (1, 2004)
Brian Rose (1, 2006)
Nicholas Faure (1, 1997)
Guy Tillim (2, 2008)
Leandro Katz (6 panels, 1978-1979)
Jiro Takamatsu (1, 1973)

Comments/Context: In between the special exhibitions and annual features like the New Photography series that usually populate the photography calendar at the MoMA, the curatorial team reinstalls the permanent collection of photography in the main series of galleries on the third floor. While this isn't a press release type event (or one that generally gets written about at all), it does offer an opportunity to peer into the minds of the organizers, mostly to see how new acquisitions are filling holes and to consider how the implied narrative arc of the history of photography is slowly evolving.

This is now my fourth year of covering the rehanging of the collection, and it's instructive to go back and remember what has been done in recent years (all the reviews are linked below). Three years ago, a grouping mechanism was used, where half a dozen images or so by a single photographer (from a related series) were chosen and hung in clusters, allowing a deeper dive into a smaller number of master photographers. Two years ago, the show was dominated by recent acquisitions (particularly 19th century) and peppered with lesser known works and artists, making the story more diffuse and harder to follow. Last year, the history of photography was seen through the prism of female photographers (known and unknown), providing a surprisingly different set of anchor points and references.

In prior years, these rehangings were "unsigned", in that they were tacitly meant to represent an institutional point of view rather than an individual one; therefore we could arguably read them as a monolithic perspective, an orthodoxy as to the "right" (or at least most recent) history of photography. What's different now is that MoMA has moved away from this approach and has begun to "sign" the reinstallations; this one was curated by Sarah Meister, and presumably the task (or opportunity) will rotate to someone else in the future. But make no mistake, this is now a new world, where a large number of alternate histories of photography are suddenly both acceptable and encouraged, and the process of identifying any one individual slice through the central mass of the collection could produce an unexpected and insightful outcome.

This selection of works sprinkles in a few more recognizable icons than the effort two years ago, and as a result, feels a bit more comfortably tied to a known line of thinking. The first room does a whirlwind tour of the 19th century (travel, scientific experimentation etc.), starting with the early masters and crossing over into Pictorialism, mixing artful images and vernacular shots with equal aplomb. The recently acquired Watkins still life of a box of peaches is the single best work in the entire exhibit; it is mind blowingly modern and lusciously crisp. It's the kind of picture that forces you to reevaluate everything you think you know about 19th century photography. (Carleton Watkins, Late George Cling Peaches, 1889, at right, top.)

The second room is the standard "between the wars" room, with bunches of European avant-garde and Surrealism, North American modernism, and FSA documentary reportage. To my eye, this group felt a little like "one of each", since there's one Brandt, one Brassai, one Weston, one Strand, one Man Ray etc., although never one of the better known images of the master identified on the wall label, presumably to keep things fresh. (Man Ray, Untitled, 1930, and Edward Weston, Nude, Mexico, 1926, at right, second and third from top.)

The next room follows chronologically into the 1940s and 1950s, bringing together a selection of professional press and vernacular photography with images from those working in a more fine art context where introspection, expressionism, and abstraction were taking hold(Siskind, Sommer, Sudek, Minor White et al.). The styles and approaches could hardly be more different, but their juxtaposition offers the first glimpses of multiple paths forward, of combination, dialogue, and confrontation. (Barbara Morgan, Use Litter Basket, 1943 and Aaron Siskind, Palm Springs, 1949, at right, fourth and fifth from the top.)

The fourth room continues a broad expansion of photographic paths forward, with 1950s hand held camera work (Frank, Winogrand, Levinstein, Faurer etc.), large format portraiture (Penn, Avedon, Newman), various forms of conceptual photography, and the arrival of the Japanese avant-garde (Tomatsu, Moriyama) in the 1970s. (Paolo Gasparini, Bello Monte, Caracas, 1968, and Zeke Berman, Still Life with Necker Cube, 1979, at right, sixth and seventh from top.)

Continuing into the other half of the divided space (which I have named the fifth room), the South Africans are added to the mix, along with the New Topographics photographers and the arrival of 1970s color. Again, many of the names will be familiar, but the specific image choices will keep you guessing. (Joel Sternfeld, Solar Pool Petals, Tuscon, Arizona, 1979, and William Eggleston, Untitled from Troubled Waters portfolio, 1980, at right, eight and ninth from top.)

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The last room in the show runs from roughly 1980 to the present, and it's here where I think the exhibit loses momentum a bit. Maybe a different way to say the same thing is that I was looking for a more definitive point of view on the current state of the world, and felt like I didn't get as sharp an opinion as I might have liked. The challenge is of course to make sense of the chaos, to follow both "contemporary art" and purely "photographic" progressions and to bushwhack a path through the thicket of competing aesthetics and mind sets, which is tough to do in a single room filled with a relatively small number of large pictures. That said, I did enjoy the Barney, the Tillim diptych, the Christenberry mess of kudzu and the multi-layered diCorcia. Perhaps a better way to look at this last room is to see it as simply a collection of new acquisitions that can tell us something about what the museum is interested in and continuing to follow closely, even if the thematic patterns are hard to discern. (William Christenberry, Kudzu Devouring Building, Near Greensboro, Alabama, 2004, and Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Catherine, 1981, at right, tenth and eleventh from top.)

In the end, I think this reinstallation of the permanent collection of photography makes a case for three distinct periods: the early period, from inception to roughly 1950, where the influence of vernacular photography and "history" is more pronounced and instructive, the middle period, from roughly Frank to Eggleston, where there is a flowering of bold experimentation in multiple directions, but mostly still connected to the existing photographic traditions, and the current period, where photography is stretching beyond its usual borders, crossing over into the context of contemporary art. In this realm, we're opening a dialogue beyond the confines of looking inward at photographic history and instead playing on a grander stage. While I'm sure this is an oversimplification of the nuanced ideas of the curators, I think this general framework has merit, especially if it can help to make the underlying forces tugging at contemporary photography more legible.

Collector's POV: Since this is a permanent collection exhibition, it seems only fitting to forego the prices and secondary market discussion that usually fills this section.

Rating: ** (two stars) VERY GOOD (rating system described here)
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Transit Hub:

• Previous installations of the permanent collection of photography: 2010 (here), 2009 (here), 2008 (here)

Permanent Collection of Photography
Through March 2012
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Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53rd Street
New York, NY 10019

Auction: New York Signature Vintage & Contemporary Photography, May 2, 2011 @Heritage

Heritage steps up next week with its various owner sale in New York, headlined by a few more high end lots than usual, but with plenty of later prints and lower priced work to sift through as well. Overall, there are a total of 188 photographs on offer, with a total High estimate of $1482000.

Here's the statistical breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including $10000): 168
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): $631000
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Total Mid Lots (high estimate between $10000 and $50000): 16
Total Mid Estimate: $406000

Total High Lots (high estimate above $50000): 4
Total High Estimate: $445000
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The top lot by High estimate is lot 74083, Irving Penn, Harlequin Dress, Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn, 1950/1979, at $150000-250000 (image at right, top, via Heritage).

Here's the complete list of photographers represented by four or more lots in the sale (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Berenice Abbott (12)
Ansel Adams (11)
Bill Owens (6)
Edward Weston (6)
Annie Leibovitz (5)
Irving Penn (5)
Sebastiao Salgado (5)
Mark Shaw (5)
Michael Kenna (4)
Jim Marshall (4)
Mark Seliger (4)
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(Lot 74059, Edward Weston, Pepper (No. 14), 1929, at $50000-75000, image at right, middle, and lot 74096, Slim Aarons, Mrs. F.C. Winston Guest and Son, Villa Artemis, Palm Beach, 1955/Later, at $3500-5000, image at right bottom, both via Heritage.)
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The complete lot by lot catalog can be found here.

New York Signature Vintage & Contemporary Photography Auction
May 2nd
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Heritage Auctions
The Fletcher-Sinclair Mansion
2 East 79th Street
New York, NY 10075

Top 10 Photography Lots at Auction in 2010

According to our statistics on 71 different auctions around the world in 2010 (covering both focused Photography sales and the photography buried in Contemporary Art and other compilation sales), these were the top 10 photography lots in terms of overall selling price this year. Unlike last year, when no works crossed the $1 million dollar mark in public secondary market transactions, 8 out of the top 10 lots this year broke that threshold (3 actually crossed $2 million dollars). Our top lot last year (Gilbert & George, The Moon, 1978), would have been good for a tie for 10th place this year (last year's list can be found here).

While some might persuasively argue that certain artists do not fall under the label of "photography", all of the works that have been included in this list are made up of photographic prints. Prices all include the buyer's premium and have been converted to dollars/rounded to the nearest dollar where appropriate (1 Euro = 1.31 Dollars; 1 Pound = 1.55 Dollars, both exchange rates slightly lower than last year; varying quality reproductions via the respective houses).
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1.) $2770500: Lot 14, Cindy Sherman, Untitled #153, 1985, at Phillips de Pury & Company, Carte Blanche, November 8th

2.) $2098500: Lot 8, Andreas Gursky, Frankfurt, 2007, at Sotheby's, Contemporary Art, November 9th

3.) $2060338: Lot 6, Andreas Gursky, Pyongyang IV, 2007, at Sotheby's, Contemporary Art, October 15th

4.) $1669738: Lot 72, Andreas Gursky, Madonna I, 2001, at Sotheby's, Contemporary Art, February 10th

5.) $1426500: Lot 19, Cindy Sherman, Untitled #420, 2004, at Phillips de Pury & Company, Carte Blanche, November 8th

5.) $1426500: Lot 58, Cindy Sherman, Untitled (#88), 1981, at Christie's, Post-War and Contemporary Art, November 10th

7.) $1101710: Lot 16, Richard Avedon, Dovima with elephants, Evening dress by Dior, Cirque D'Hiver, Paris, August 1955, 1955/1978, at Christie's, Photographies provenant de la Fondation Richard Avedon, November 20th

8.) $1082500: Lot 122, Edward Weston, Nautilus, 1927, at Sotheby's, Photographs, April 13th

9.) $962500: Lot 17, Thomas Schütte, Old Friends, 1993, at Phillips de Pury & Company, Carte Blanche, November 8th

10.) $902500: Lot 113, Richard Prince, Untitled (Cowboy), 1998-1999, at Phillips de Pury & Company, Contemporary Art, November 8th

10.) $902500: Lot 8, Andreas Gursky, Chicago Board of Trade, 1997, at Christie's, Collection of Michael Crichton, May 11th
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While we cover most of the major auctions, it is entirely possible (though not hugely likely) that a photograph could have sold outside our coverage area, in a smaller house or in a secondary market location (especially in the 19th century realm), but could still have reached the top 10 in terms of overall price. So please, if we've missed something somewhere, by all means, add it in the comments.