E-Photo
Issue #72  5/8/2004
 
Bonham's Holds Two-Day Auction Sale in London May 18 and 20

Bonham’s will hold a two-day auction sale of photographs ranging from daguerreotypes to the digital art at its refurbished 101 New Bond Street auction room on Tuesday, May 18th at 2 pm and Thursday, May 20 at 6 pm.

Drawing on the combined strength of the Bonhams Group of companies in London, San Francisco and Sydney this sale brings together iconic images by leading 19th and 20th-century photographers alongside works by major contemporary artists.

In addition to featuring a selection of daguerreotypes, ambrotypes and early salt prints, the first session takes a thematic look at the 19th century with sections covering the Middle East, Antarctic and Mountaineering, the Far East, North America, India and Southeast Asia, Royalty and Politics, Military, British Topography, Lantern Slides and Stereoscopic views.

Another highlight of the first session is a unique group of images of Australian Aboriginals by German born photographer J.W. Lindt. Lindt asked local Bundjalung and Gurnbainggir people to come to his Grafton studio and pose with props he had gathered from various sources. The portfolios, which had different combinations from a stock of about 50 images, became the most widely distributed images of indigenous people in the 19th century. This collection is the largest privately held group of these Lindt portraits.

Session two will take place on May 20th and covers 20th-century photography.

This sale brings together a number of important private collections beginning with the property of the Estate of Arthur Goldsmith. The photographs in this collection were acquired by Arthur Goldsmith during his long career as an editor and writer on the art of photography. Goldsmith, who died at the age of 77 in 2003, had been an influential member of the photographic community throughout his life. This property features lots which include images by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Alfred Eisenstaedt, W. Eugene Smith, André Kertész, Dorothea Lange, Edward Weston and many other leading photographers. Many of these images bear personal messages from the artists to Goldsmith reflecting the esteem in which he was held.

Another significant property is from the collection of Richard King. In 1972 he established a prominent commercial gallery “The Print Room”, which operated until 1993. During this time he represented a select group of established Australian photographers and a number of emerging artists. He built up an outstanding collection of photographs, many now considered iconic images in the history of Australian photography. Included are major works by acclaimed Australian photographers Olive Cotton, Max Dupain, David Moore, Graham McCarter, Robert McFarlane, David Potts, Wolfgang Sievers and Henry Talbot. Helmut Newton who once shared a studio in Melbourne with Talbot is represented along with legendary figures in the history of fashion photography including Richard Avedon, Cecil Beaton, Norman Parkinson, Horst P. Horst, Guy Bourdin and Irving Penn.

In addition to the Richard King collection and the group of works by Lindt, the sale features a group of 178 vintage photographs by Max Dupain tracing the building of the Sydney Opera House.

Australian photographers are extremely well represented with iconic images like Lewis Morley’s image of Christine Keeler from the 60s, Carol Jerrem's classic "Vale Street" from the 1970s. Other works by internationally acclaimed Australian contemporary photographers include Tracey Moffatt, Bill Henson, Patricia Piccinini, Anne Zahalka and many others.

The auction will also include other master photographers, such as Paul Strand, Brassai, Walker Evans, Man Ray and Robert Frank, to name just a few.

Preview dates and hours can be found on I Photo Central in the Calendar section under Auctions, or on the Bonham's website listed below.

For further information, please you can contact the department via telephone or email. In the UK and Europe, David Park, david.park@bonhams.com , +44 (0)20 7629 6602. In Australasia, Sandra Byron, sandra.byron@bonhams.com , +61 (0)2 9237 7311. In North America, Judith Eurich, j.eurich@butterfields.com , +1-415 503 3259.

Catalogues are now available and will also be available online at http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/wspd_cgi.sh/pubweb/publicSite.r?screen=Photography .