Lillian Bassman: Lingerie @Staley-Wise

JTF (just the facts): A total of 20 black and white photographs and 9 contact sheets, variously framed and matted, and hung in the winding main gallery space and the reception area. 14 of the black and white works are gelatin silver prints, ranging in size from 11x14 to 30x40. The other 4 black and white works are archival pigment prints, ranging in size from 42x52 to 44x57. The 9 contact sheets are 8x10 gelatin silver prints. No edition information was available for any of the prints. There are also 2 gelatin silver prints of Bassman taken by her husband, Paul Himmel. All of the works were taken between 1945 and the 1960s, except one new image from 2012. A monograph of this body of work was recently published by Abrams (here). (Installation shots at right.)
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Comments/Context: The late resurgence in the photographic career of Lillian Bassman is a story that is probably already well known to readers here. An influential fashion photographer for Harper's Bazaar in the 1950s and 1960s, she was largely forgotten until roughly a decade ago, when some of her old negatives were rediscovered and she began to reprint and reinterpret them, often in larger sizes. A collection of her many photographs of lingerie models has recently been gathered into a monograph, but her death last winter has added a more melancholy note to this accompanying show.
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Bassman's images of women's lingerie capture a wide spectrum of forms and styles: corsets and girdles, slips and nightgowns, underwear and pajamas. She was fond of seductive silhouettes, with arms raised and faces averted, drawing our attention to anonymous feminine curves and confident stances. But the darkroom was where the real magic occurred. Bleaching and burning (and later making digital manipulations), she broadened the contrasts to harsher blacks and whites, increased the graininess to an expressionistic, painterly blur, and heightened shadows and softened highlights to transform her models into stylized, monochrome representations of elegance and glamour. The resulting images have a dreamy, ephemeral quality, the wispy grace of a pose threatening to disappear in a blink of an eye.

What makes these pictures work is their self-assured boldness. In many ways, the lingerie is just a subject matter detail; what is being offered is a combination of poise and coolness, made stronger by the punch of the black and white polarization. As Bassman extended the range of her signature aesthetic techniques, she took her images to new levels of sophistication and femininity, and further separated them from mainstream fashion photography.

Collector's POV: Surprisingly, the prints in this show are not for sale; it seems that since the photographer's recent death, the arrangements with the estate have not been finalized. Bassman's prints (both vintage and later, generally 11x14 or smaller) have been available from time to time in the secondary markets, with prices ranging between $4000 and $15000 in the past few years. Her larger pigment prints and other recent works are likely only available at gallery retail prices.

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

Transit Hub:

• Features: Vanity Fair (here)
• Obituary: NY Times (here)

Lillian Bassman: Lingerie

Through May 26th
 
Staley-Wise Gallery
560 Broadway
New York, NY 10012

Auction Results: Photographs, April 16, 2010 @Phillips

The various owner Photographs auction at Phillips last Friday generally matched expectations, with a buy-in rate near 30% and total sale proceeds at the lower end of the range. I'd say it was a "good enough" outcome, with few in the way of meaningful surprises.

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

Total Lots: 349
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: $3155400

Pre Sale High Total Estimate: $4488100

Total Lots Sold: 245
Total Lots Bought In: 104
Buy In %: 29.80%
Total Sale Proceeds: $3470675

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

Low Total Lots: 242
Low Sold: 169
Low Bought In: 73
Buy In %: 30.17%
Total Low Estimate: $1447100
Total Low Sold: $1058500

Mid Total Lots: 93
Mid Sold: 65
Mid Bought In: 28
Buy In %: 30.11%
Total Mid Estimate: $1911000

Total Mid Sold: $1389375

High Total Lots: 14
High Sold: 11
High Bought In: 3
Buy In %: 21.43%
Total High Estimate: $1130000
Total High Sold: $1022800

The top lot by High estimate was lot 216, Edward Steichen, Wheelbarrow with Flower Pots, France, 1920, at $150000-200000; it was also the top outcome of the sale at $194500 (image at right, top, via Phillips).

90.20% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range. There were a total of 7 surprises in this sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

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Lot 1, Lillian Bassman, Blowing Kiss, Barbara Mullen, New York, c1958/Later, at $10625 (image at right, via Phillips)

Lot 174, Vik Muniz, Hands from Pictures of Soil, 1997, at $25000

Lot 238, Walker Evans, Display Sign, Birmingham, Alabama, 1936/Later, at $6875

Lot 256, Peter Beard, Hunting Cheetahs on the Taru Desert, Kenya, 1960/1998, at $50000

Lot 291, O. Winston Link, NW1103, Hot Shot Eastbound at the Iager Drive-In, West Virginia, 1956/1983, at $27500

Lot 297, Weegee, Twin Bed Distortion, c1950, at $6875

Lot 329, Shikanosuke Yagaki, Blinds with Sunlight, 1930s, at $10000

Complete lot by lot results can be found here.

Phillips De Pury & Company

450 West 15th Street

New York, NY 10011

Lillian Bassman: Women @Staley-Wise

JTF (just the facts): A total of 26 black and white images, framed in either black or white (with or without mats), and hung in the winding main gallery space, the back viewing room, and the reception area. The recent prints are executed in three different processes: pigment, palladium-platinum, and gelatin silver. There are 20 pigment prints, either from 1950s/1960s negatives or from more recent 1990s/2000s negatives, in editions of 25. These prints range in size from approximately 30x40 up to 42x62, with many intermediate/individual sizes. There are 5 palladium-platinum prints, again either from the 1950s or the 1990s, in editions of 15. All of these prints are 26x30. And there is one gelatin silver print, from the 1950s, in an edition of 25. It is 20x24. The monograph of this show (published by Abrams) is available from the gallery for $50. (Installation shots at right.)

Comments/Context: One of the great mysteries of photography is how the character of an image changes in relation to its printed size. While preferences between big and small vary, it's clear that the impact of an intimate picture will be undeniably transformed when blown up to wall sized proportions. Most contemporary photographers have experimented with big prints at one time or another (to hold the wall with the same authority as paintings of the same size), and many have come to the conclusion that bigger is generally better, within some limits, especially if they are targeting contemporary art collectors, rather than those primarily interested in traditional photography.

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In recent years, we have seen another variation on this theme more and more often: the reprinting of vintage negatives by older photographers (living or posthumously) in these "modern" sizes. Having seen quite a few of these kinds of prints from various artists, I think they fall into two distinct and separate categories: exciting new interpretations that force the viewer to rethink the originals and posterish cliches that cross the line into overdone "too much".

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Lillian Bassman's fashion images from the 1950s were, in their vintage form, already bleached and blurred; they were shadowy, delicate pictures with a strong essence of confident femininity. The new prints on view in this show are even more contrasty, the images in some cases looking almost like monochrome watercolors or ink paintings. Flowing gowns, strappy heels, feathered hats, and lace veils have all become even more polarized and grainy, dark eyes and indistinct faces made even more ethereal by the blinding whites and the obscure blacks.

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For the most part, I think these large striking prints succeed at highlighting Bassman's innovations in fashion photography, without becoming caricatures of themselves. Her ghostly heads and figures become even more indistinct and hallucinatory writ large, making the subtle gestures and penetrating looks she captured even more bold and assertive.

Collector's POV: The images in this show are generally priced based on size and printing process. The pigment prints are either $6000 or $8000, the palladium-platinum prints are either $15000 or $17500 and the lone gelatin silver print is $4000. Again, these are all recent prints, made much larger than any of Bassman's previous work. Her vintage and later silver prints, approximately 11x14 or smaller for the most part, are available from time to time in the secondary markets; prices have ranged between $4000 and $15000 in the past few years.

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

Transit Hub:

• NY Times feature, 2009 (here)
• Lillian Bassman: Women book (here)

Lillian Bassman: Women
Through November 28th

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Staley-Wise Gallery

560 Broadway

New York, NY 10012