THE PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTOR INFORMATION, OPINION, AND ADVICE FOR COLLECTORS, CURATORS, AND DEALERS N E W S L T R Volume XXXVI, No. 9 September 2015 FALL AUCTION PREVIEW by Stephen Perloff Desiree Dolron: Xteriors II, 2001–2006 ($60,000–$80,000), at Christie’s FALL AUCTION PREVIEW continued Christie’s will hold three Photographs sales in Sugimoto’s Kegon Waterfall, 1977 ($120,000– Fall 2015. The sales include works for new and $180,000); Bernd & Hilla Becher’s Typology of seasoned collectors alike, featuring a first-ever Four Pitheads, c. 1975, four gelatin silver prints curated Evening Sale on October 5, a Day Sale ($80,000–$120,000); and Richard Misrach’s Un- following on October 6, and First Exposure, an titled, #213-04 from On the Beach, 2004, chromo- online-only sale, now open for bidding. In addi- genic print, printed 2007 ($70,000–$90,000). tion, Christie’s will present Patrick Demarchelier: Photographs 1975–2015, a private selling exhibi- tion of the legendary French fashion photographer from October 2–12. Photographs: The Evening Sale showcases 42 works and reflects a reinvigorated focus on the incredible breadth of offerings from the full his- tory of the medium, encompassing the early begin- nings, strong modernist and post-war periods, all the way through to rising contemporary stars. Leading the way in Christie’s Evening Sale is Ansel Adams’s Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park, c. 1940, gelatin silver mural print, printed c. 1962–63, and Irving Penn’s Gingko Leaves, New York, 1990, dye-transfer print, print- ed 1992, both estimated at $300,000–$500,000. Edward Steichen’s Rockefeller Center, c. 1932 ($225,000–$275,000); Man Ray’s Untitled (Self-Portrait with Camera), 1932, a solarized gelatin silver print ($200,000–$250,000); and Ed- ward Weston’s Dunes, Oceano, 1936 ($120,000– $180,000), represent the modernist period; along with an earlier work, Karl Struss’s Man’s Con- struction, 1912 ($90,000–$120,000). More contemporary images include William Eggleston’s Untitled (Greenwood, Mississippi), Man Ray: Untitled (Self-Portrait with Camera), 1932, 1973 (the red room, $180,000–$220,000); Hiroshi a solarized gelatin silver print ($200,000–$250,000), at Christie’s There is also a range of modernist, classic, IN THIS ISSUE and contemporary works estimated at $60,000– $80,000, including Pierre Dubreuil’s Caval- Fall Auction Preview ..................................................1 rie Legere/Cavaleria Ardente, c. 1935; Robert Auction Preview..........................................................8 Frank’s Luncheonette – Butte, Montana, 1956 Gallery Row ...............................................................10 ($60,000–$80,000); Henri Cartier-Bresson’s Se- Museum and Nonprofit Row ....................................11 ville, Spain, 1933, printed no later than 1943 Random Notes from L.A. .........................................15 ($60,000–$80,000); Diane Arbus’s A Jewish giant Fairs and Festivals ...................................................21 at home with his parents in the Bronx, N.Y., 1970, Awards .......................................................................22 printed c.1972 ($60,000–$80,000); Frantisek Auction Schedule .....................................................25 Drtikol’s Composition, 1929 ($60,000–$80,000); and Desiree Dolron’s Xteriors II, 2001–2006 Courses, Lectures, & Seminars ..............................28 ($60,000–$80,000). Trade Shows, Fairs, & Festivals / Catalogues .......29 Highlights of Christie’s Day Sale include Limited Editions ........................................................30 Rodney Graham’s Ponderosa Pine No. 3, 1992, Exhibitions of Note ...................................................30 chromogenic print ($40,000–$60,000); Alex Prag- er’s La Petite Mort, 2012, 6 chromogenic prints 2 FALL AUCTION PREVIEW continued and digital video ($30,000–$50,000); and Na- photography by Alfred Stieglitz, Diane Arbus, dav Kander’s Yangtze River Project, Chongqing Tina Modotti, and Hiroshi Sugimoto, among many II, Chongqing Municipality, 2006, chromogenic others. This carefully selected offering illustrates print ($20,000–$30,000). Also featured is Pe- the expressive breadth of the medium and will fea- ter Lindbergh’s Helena Christensen, Debbie Lee ture over 200 works with estimates ranging from Carrington, Vogue Italy, ET Mirage, California, $5,000 to $350,000. 1990, gelatin silver print, printed later ($40,000– $60,000); Robert Mapplethorpe’s Calla Lily, 1988 ($50,000–$70,000); Robert Frank’s Motorama — Los Angeles, 1956, printed 1970s ($40,000– $60,000); Aaron Siskind’s North Carolina, 1951 ($10,000–$15,000); and Peter Beard’s Water- buck Family on the Uaso Nyiro, 1968 ($60,000– $80,000). Diane Arbus: National Junior Interstate Dance Cham- pions, signed and dedicated “for Jean…” in ink in the margin, 1963, printed no later than 1967, 10"x9.625", 1963 ($250,000–$350,000), at Sotheby’s Sotheby’s catalogue cover features an early print of Diane Arbus’s National Junior Interstate Dance Champions ($250,000–350,000). Given by the photographer to the present owner in 1967, this signed and personally inscribed print is one of only a few extant lifetime prints of the image. Among other post-war photographs in the auction Rodney Graham: Ponderosa Pine No. 3, 1992, chro- is an early exhibition print of Robert Frank’s Un- mogenic print ($40,000–$60,000), at Christie’s titled (Chicago Loop) ($30,000–$50,000), which was a gift of the photographer to Robert Delpire, First Exposure, an online-only sale, offers the influential French publisher responsible for the cutting-edge and accessible Contemporary Pho- first edition of The Americans. Also featured is an tography where collectors will find an outstand- early print of Robert Adams’s Colorado ($12,000– ing array of analogue, digital, and mixed media $18,000), and a strong selection of four lifetime photographic and photo-based work. This online Francesca Woodman photographs, with estimates sale will coincide with Print’s First Impression from $12,000–$18,000 to $25,000–$35,000. and First Open/NYC sales, and a selection of high- An exemplary, early print of Alfred Stieglitz’s lights will be on view at Rockefeller Center. portrait of Georgia O’Keeffe ($100,000–$200,000) is one of only a few of the photographer’s many Sotheby’s fall auction of Photographs on Oc- images of her to show the painter at work. This tober 7 in New York will offer a variety of excep- print was given by O’Keeffe to her sister, the well- tional works from the 19th to the 21st centuries. known collector and socialite Anita O’Keeffe Of special note are masterpieces of 20th-century Young, and has remained in private hands until its 3 FALL AUCTION PREVIEW continued Robert Frank: Untitled (Chicago Loop) ($30,000–$50,000), at Sotheby’s sale this October. Another photograph by Stieglitz diate Family series will also be on offer. And Rob- is November Days ($70,000–$100,000), an image ert Mapplethorpe’s infamous Man in Polyester that dates to the early years of the photographer’s Suit, 1980, will challenge collectors at $250,000– career and is offered here as a fully signed and dated $350,000. platinum print. Modernism is well-represented by László Moholy-Nagy’s dynamic Photogram ($150,000–$250,000), a large-format print made around 1929 and one of only a handful of prints of this image extant. Tina Modotti’s Campesinos Reading El Machete ($200,000–$300,000) and Geranio ($70,000–$100,000) showcase the pho- tographer’s ability to balance both political and artistic concerns. Photographs by Hans Bellmer, Erwin Blumenfeld, Bill Brandt, and Brassaï are also featured. Among the contemporary highlights is con- ceptual photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto’s triptych Baltic Sea, Rugen ($100,000–$200,000), one of only two triptychs of these images assembled by the photographer. Sotheby’s is also presenting Sally Mann’s unique triptych Untitled (Self-Por- traits) ($40,000–$60,000), the first ambrotypes Francesca Woodman: Untitled, Providence Rhode Is- by the photographer to appear at auction. Several land (Liza with Bird), 1976–77 ($20,000–$30,000) at photographs from Mann’s Deep South and Imme- Sotheby’s 4 FALL AUCTION PREVIEW continued Other significant contemporary offerings in- ($250,000–$350,000). Adding to its rarity, the clude Gregory Crewdson’s Untitled (The Fort), print on offer was printed in the 1970s, prior to the from Beneath the Roses ($30,000–$50,000), Rob- widely known edition of 20 executed in 1980, and ert Heinecken’s Security Officer #1 ($15,000– further, was created from the original Kodachrome $25,000), and photographs by Marina Abramovic, transparency, which was lost sometime after that Richard Misrach, James Casebere, and Bettina edition was produced. Rheims. Three other dye transfer prints by Eggleston will be offered, including, Huntsville, Alabama, As a centerpiece of their October Photographs 1971 ($80,000–$120,000); Jackson, Mississippi, auctions, Phillips will hold a single-owner sale, 1969–1970 ($50,000–$70,000); and Sumner, Mis- Innovators of Photography: A Private East Coast sissippi, 1969–1971 ($30,000–$50,000). All four Collection. Assembled over the last 30 years, the prints are illustrated in William Eggleston’s Guide, collection contains key works by leaders in the the accompanying monograph for Eggleston’s fields of 20th and 21st Century photography, from seminal1976 exhibition at the Museum of Modern Diane Arbus and William Eggleston to Man Ray Art, New York, and the institution’s first publica- and Robert Frank, to the photographers who fol- tion of color photography. lowed, such as Edward Burtynsky, Hiroshi Sugi- A rare, lifetime print of Diane Arbus’ A fam- moto, Pieter Hugo, and Lalla Essaydi, who are ily on their lawn one Sunday in Westchester, N.Y., also represented in the collection. will be offered ($250,000–$350,000). Additional The sale is highlighted by a dye transfer highlights include Man Ray’s portrait of Marcel print of William Eggleston’s masterwork Mem- Duchamp, circa 1920–1921 ($50,000–$80,000), phis, 1969–1970 (the tricycle), one of the pho- an exceptionally rare print highlighting the duo’s tographer’s most celebrated pictures, estimated close collaborative friendship.