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• Issue #263
• Article

Antoine Sevruguin, a very large and important lot of 19th-century photographs of Persia. 104 Albumen prints, estimated at $20,000-30,000.

This fall, the new kid on the block Canada Book Auctions with Neil D. MacDonald at the helm, will present two auctions of fine 19th- and 20th-century photography, featuring material and photographers from three different estate collections.

Their first auction, "Photographic History" (Wednesday, November 1, 1 pm EST), will comprise 19th-century photo work by D.F. Barry, Antonio Beato, Bonfils, Samuel Bourne, Étienne Carjat, Désiré Charnay, E.S. Curtis, Francis Frith, Alexander Gardner, Charles Marville, Julio Michaud, Nadar, Timothy O'Sullivan, William Henry Fox Talbot, among others. Materials will include stereoviews, lantern slides, daguerreotypes, tintypes, life and travel albums, and more from the collections of the late Robert Wilson (Toronto) and Harve Sherman (Toronto).

The sale will feature fine early 19th-century travel photographs documenting China, India, Egypt and the Near East, Africa, Australia, and South East Asia. Some notable views of India will include work by Bourne & Shepherd, Francis Frith, Lala Deen Day, and others, featuring prints of the Golden Temples at Benares and Armritsar and Qutab Minar in Delhi, among other images. The auction is on LiveAuctioneers, and can be found here: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/305791_photographic-history/.

The next day Canada Book Auctions will be presenting another exceptional sale, "Important Fine Photographs" (November 2, 1 pm EST) on LiveAuctioneers.com at: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/305823_fine-photographs/.

Featuring exquisite work by Ansel Adams, Richard Avedon, Cecil Beaton, Brassaï, Walker Evans, Arnold Genthe, Philippe Halsman, Yousuf Karsh, Lewis Hine, André Kertész, Dorothea Lange, Edward Steichen, Alfred Stieglitz and many others. Materials will include photographs from the collection of the late Miljenko Horvat (Montreal) and Harve Sherman.

Richard Avedon, Portrait of Igor Stravinsky. Gelatin silver print, 11/2/1969, Neg. no. 10; ed. no. 9/50. Signed, stamped, numbered on print verso. Provenance: Marlborough Godard; and Art Gallery of Ontario, exhibition label on verso, estimated at $4,000-6,000.

Highlights will include Avedon's signed portrait of Igor Stravinsky (1969; 25.5 x 20 cm); Adams' signed silver print of "San Francisco from San Bruno" (1953; 37 x 47 cm); Steichen's portrait of Mrs. A. G. Bowman in her wedding dress designed by Hattie Carnegie, published by Condé Nast (1933; 25 x 20 cm); Charnay's print of "Île de la Réunion (Jardin Botanique)" (26.5 x 20 cm), taken during his Madagascar expedition; and Child's albumen views of Peking (1875-80, 18.5 x 24 cm).

The sale will also include a selection of portraits by Cecil Beaton, most notably Beaton's iconic portrait of Wallis Simpson posed by a masked statue covered in black tulle (24.5 x 29.5 cm), as well as his portraits of Graham Sutherland and John Augustus.

Of special import is a selection of rare and extraordinary 19th-century Persian photographs by Antoin Sevruguin (1851-1933), an Iranian photographer working during the Qajar Dynasty (1785-1952). Sevruguin's work was especially well-received by the reigning Shah at the time, and Sevruguin was made court photographer, photographing the royal court, harems, mosques, and other scenes of cultural significance. The prints in this collection feature many portraits of Kurdish, Persian, and Chaldean women, street scenes, cultural dress and customs. Prints from this collection include: water pipes (Hookahs); grinding wheat; a portrait of a Persian butcher; "Juive" (Jewish) wife of a Kurdish chief; and a studio portrait of group of four veiled women. The collection represents an exceptional selection of rare 19th-century Persian material.

Cecil Beaton's iconic portrait of Wallis Simpson posed by a masked statue covered in black tulle, estimated at $3,000-5,000.

The auction will include a special collection of post-war British photography by Jane Bown, John Blakemore, Mark Edwards, Bert Hady, Thurston Hopkins, Martin Parr and George Rodger, featuring portraits of Mick Jagger, Jean Cocteau, Henry Moore, Samuel Beckett, and other superb subjects. These photographs are from the collection of Miljenko Horvat (1935-2012), Croatian-born artist and architect who immigrated to Canada in 1966 and spent much of his career there. Horvat was also an active curator, and the photographs of this section were featured in Horvat's 1987 exhibition "Realities Revisited: 15 British Photographers" (Montreal, Centre Saidye Bronfman). These photographs represent an exceptional collection away from the light for decades and is fresh to the market.

The sale will feature many other important artists, including Thomas Annan, Bill Brandt, Wynn Bullock, Bruce Davidson, Eugene Durieux, Fritz Henle, Wendell MacRae, Joel Meyerowitz, Nadar, William Henry Fox Talbot, George Tice, Edward Weston, Clarence White, Max Yvano and George Zimbel.

You can join Canada Book Auction's mailing list and subscribe to receive notifications and updates about these exciting upcoming sales.

Canada Book Auctions, 1-41 Spadina Road, Toronto, ON M5R 2S9, Canada.

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