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• Archive Newsletters
• Issue #176
• Article

On November 25th, 2010, an auction featuring approximately 200 lots of fine modern and contemporary photographs will kick off this year's fall auctions at Villa Grisebach in Berlin.

One of the highlights from the sale is the photograph Spanish Civil War, November 7, 1938 by Magnum photographer Robert Capa (est. 10000-15000 euro). This specific print was published in LIFE magazine in 1941 as part of Capa's famous photo story on the Spanish Civil War.

Another rare print in Grisebach's photography auction is Shipyard Detail, a vintage print from 1935 by Edward Weston with a remarkable abstract composition and still life character (est. 12000-15000 euro). The photographer Édouard Boubat is also featured in the sale with the mysterious Self Portrait with Lella, Paris, 1952, in a rare early print (est. 10000-15000 euro).

From the estate of the actress Brigitte Helm comes an exceptional collection of 36 vintage prints from Fritz Lang's Metropolis (est. 5000-7000 euro). These photos were taken by the photographer Horst von Harbou in 1925-1926 during the filming of Lang's masterpiece, and they depict many of the famous actors and revolutionary stage sets from the film. Two photos that also have a very interesting provenance are Constantin Brancusi's Portrait de Femme, circa 1910, (est. 4000-6000 euro) and La Colonne du Baiser, fragment, circa 1917 (est. 6000-8000 euro), both originally from the collection of Barbu Brezianu.

Further highlights from the section of modern photographs include Sam Shere's photo of the explosion of the airship Hindenburg in Lakehurst in 1937 (est. 3000-5000 euro), Herbert List's surreal scenario with George Hoyningen-Huene from 1939 (est. 2500-3500 euro), as well as rare photographs by--among others--Jerry Berndt, Brassai, Marianne Breslauer, Robert Doisneau, Elliott Erwitt, Andreas Feininger, Gisèle Freund, Horst P. Horst, Gertrude Käsebier, Alberto Korda, Saul Leiter, Liselotte Strelow and Geza Vandor.

The top lot from the section of Contemporary Photographs is Hiroshi Sugimoto's U.A. Rivoli, New York (est. 20000-25000 euro) from his series titled "Theaters". Other contemporary highlights include Thomas Ruff's Haus Nr. 5 III (est. 16000-20000 euro) and photos by, among others, Nobuyoshi Araki, Dieter Blum, Dan Graham, Andreas Gursky, Dave Jordano, Sarah Moon, Sebastiao Salgado, Alec Soth, Frank Thiel, Pekka Turunen, Miroslav Tichy and Andy Warhol.

The main auction preview will take place November 20-24, 2010 at Villa Grisebach Auktionen, Fasanenstrasse 73, Berlin, from Saturday through Tuesday from 10 am-6:30 pm, Wednesday from 10 am-5 pm. A selection of work will be available to preview in Dortmund, Hamburg and Zurich (see website for details, times and dates).

You can view the auction catalogue online at http://www.villa-grisebach.de/en/ .

The auction itself is scheduled for Thursday, November 25, 2010, 3 pm, which is Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. You can leave bids though with the auction house.

For more information and to leave bids, contact Franziska Schmidt (head of the photography department), phone: +1-49-30-885 915-27; fax: +49 30-885915-4627 (from the U.S. dial 011 then the number); or email: f.schmidt@villa-grisebach.de .