E-Photo
Issue #105  5/12/2006
 
Van Ham Schedules Auction On May 31st in Cologne

On May 31st, more than 300 works of historic, classic and modern photography will be auctioned at Van Ham Fine Art Auctions in Cologne. The works of famous German and international photographers of 19th through the 21st century will be on offer.

Contemporary photography, in particular the works of the so-called Becher-school, is the main focus of this Spring's auction. Large scale works of the Becher-school are represented by Thomas Ruff, Candida Hoefer and Claus Goedicke (2.200-5.800 €). Black-and-white prints of Becher student Tata Ronkholz from the 1970s will be included, who will be represented by her most typical works from the "Trinkhalle" and "Industrietore" (industry gates) series.

International contemporary photography by Hiroshi Sugimoto, Miriam Bäckström, Sarah Jones and Bettina Rheims will also be represented at the auction.

The oeuvre of the photographer Albert Renger-Patzsch will be represented by a unique series of his early photographs of plants. Some of them were published in his early publications "The World is Beautiful" (1928), "Orchideas" (1924) and "Cactus" (1930). These works are from the estate of the writer, who was a friend of Renger-Patzsch. Nineteen unpublished letters from the same provenance will be auctioned, as well as five early vintage prints from the 1920/30s. These photographs are illustrated in his famous early publications "The Halligen" (1927), "The World is Beautiful" (1928) and "Hamburg" (1930).

One of the highlights of this spring auction is the peasant women portrait made by August Sander. This large print is dated 1913.

Original prints of high quality architectural images from the Hugo Schmölz studio in Cologne forms the traditional emphasis of our photography department and will be included in this sale.

The artist's group "fotoform" is represented by works by Peter Keetmann, Toni Schneiders and Ludwig Windstosser. A series of original prints by Heinrich Riebesehl is also worth mentioning.

Two remarkable portraits made by famed fashion photographer Sir Cecil Beaton are included in the auction. One of them was printed by Erwin Blumenfeld. Beaton himself is depicted in two rare portraits by American surrealistic poet Charles Henri Ford.

Nineteenth-century photography is represented by a small but choice group of pictures, such as "Brig on the Water" by Gustave Le Gray and five large albumen prints by Carleton E. Watkins. The latter prints show impressive landscapes of the American West. Among these images are two of Yosemite Valley.

The auction will be held on May 31st at 6 pm at Van Ham Fine Art Auctions, Schoenhauser Str. 10-16, 50968, Cologne, Germany, tel.: +49 (0)221 92 58 62 28. The preview will be held from 5/23-29, W-Tu, 10am-5pm, except Sa, 10am-4pm and S, 11am-4pm. For further information Email: a.gantefuehrer-trier@van-ham.com . The online catalogue of the auction can be found at http://www.van-ham.com .