The second Andreas Gursky's "99 Cent II Diptychon" (2001) to come up in the last six months broke the world auction record again for a contemporary photograph when it sold at Phillips de Pury (New York) this past week. Estimated at $2.5 million to $3.5 million, the final price of $2.48 million was just over the record set this past May at Sotheby's New York when the same image sold for $2,256,000. Both prices included the buyer's premium (the estimates did not).

Apparently, only one telephone bidder, who was an unidentified European collector (the underbidder at the earlier Sotheby's sale?), wanted the Gursky 99 Cent, a photograph of a 99-cent store's interior. The Gursky was being sold by Adam D. Sender (who consigned the bulk of this sale), a hedge fund manager and collector, who bought the photography diptych from New York photography art dealer Matthew Marks.

Richard Prince's 1997 "Untitled (Cowboy)," yet another image of the Marlboro Man, was estimated at $800,000 to $1.2 million. Paul Thiebaud, a San Francisco contemporary art dealer, bought it for $744,000, including premium. This copy photograph was No.2 in an edition of two, plus one artist's proof.

Cindy Sherman's rip-off of a Dutch oil painting, Untitled #212, 1989, fetched the high estimate at $180,000. But you did get this nice frame with it.

Thomas Struth's "Paradise 2 (Pilgrim Sands) Daintree/Australia" (1998) sold for $120,000, against an estimate of $60,000-80,000. Frankly, for that much money, I would rather take a trip to Australia and see the real thing.

Gilbert & George's "Black Buds", 16 black and white photographs in artist's frames, came in at the top of its estimate range at $240,000.

Gerhard Richter's "Ema (Nude Descending a Staircase) sold for a whopping $372,400. Richter says this about the photograph: "In the photograph, I take even more focus out of the painted image, which is already a bit out of focus, and make the picture even smoother. I also subtract the materiality, the surface of the painting, and it becomes something different." Yeh. Right. You copied the artwork to make even more money. We get it.

Warhol's "Jackie" (1964), an acrylic and silkscreen made from a photograph of Jacqueline Kennedy smiling in the Dallas motorcade moments before her husband Jack was assassinated, was estimated at $500,000-700,000. Three bidders battled it out for the object, but in the end it was New York dealer Alberto Mugrabi who finally nailed it for $856,000. The price seemed a relative bargain on a prorated basis, since Warhol's "Sixteen Jackies," also from 1964, sold at Christie's on the previous Wednesday night for $15.6 million, or about a million per Jackie.

According to art writer and critic Brian Appel, "It is not known how many Warhol images Mugrabi owns but conservative estimates put him at holding a cache of Warhols to the tune of $200 million. Could be a lot more. Mugrabi is known for buying up Warhols at the bottom of the last art world bust in 1992-1993. Put another way...he was buying the 12 by 10-inch "MAO" paintings that are now going for $1 million and more a pop for $15,000. By the way, everytime he buys a Warhol now at top dollar his inventory rises proportionally."

Charles Ray's "All My Clothes," a 1963 series of 16 photographs, self-portraits of the artist wearing every outfit in his wardrobe, from an edition of 12 plus three artist's proofs, brought $273,600 from a telephone bidder, who turned out to be a U.S. contemporary art dealer. It had been estimated at only $100,000 to $150,000. Frankly, for that amount you could really dress up in style yourself. Heck, why not get tricked out in a Porsche while you are at it.
 

The Fall photography auctions were fairly dull events with material that many observers felt were mere 'cats and dogs'--at least compared to some of the exciting images of the earlier Winter and Spring auctions. None-the-less, the New York auction houses did extremely well with this mixed bag of photography lots, as the sold lot percentage hit just over 77% on average of those offered here, and the total take including buyer's premium was just over $19-3/4 million for the four auction houses. That amount was impressive given that there were no separate single-owner sales this time around.

Besides the rather mixed group of images, virtually devoid of 19th-century work (with the exception of a single daguerreotype of Edgar Allan Poe at Sotheby's, some Julia M. Camerons at Christie's, and Swann's more extensive material), there was a clear and precipitous drop in actual attendees at these auctions, especially during the daytime sales. I don't think I have ever seen such small crowds at Sotheby's and Christie's--well under 80 people in the day sales. The only exception seemed to be at Swann, where attendance was perhaps the strongest that I have seen. Meanwhile the phone banks continue to grow ever larger in size.

Despite the lack of physical bodies though, the auctions--as already noted--did extremely well, but it was largely the phone or commission bids that carried the day. As I reported about the Spring sales in New York, more and more, these auctions are shaping themselves into a drama built only for phone bidders. Half of the auctions no longer note that bidders are bidding against a commission bid or a reserve, as auction house personnel are called on to act as surrogate actors in place of the commission bidder. While attendees can sometimes see this, phone bidders only hear that they are bidding against someone in the room. In my opinion this is a purposely misleading strategy, largely used at Christie's and Phillips. Likewise virtually all the auctioneers are drawing out the process, bidding up commission bids as if there were two bidders in the room and slowing down the bidding to accommodate slow-acting phones and internet bidders.

All this drama is designed for one purpose: to entice phone bidders to plunge into the fray--and it has definitely worked for now. Bidding is currently a slow, laborious process that has become excruciating for those who actually attend the auction. More and more of the former attendees are staying home to bid by phone or internet, because of this boring, drawn-out process. It is definitely creating a circular effect. There were less attendees than I have ever seen at the morning sales at Sotheby's, Christie's and Phillips, although the evening sales were decently attended. There are bound to be long-term consequences to this trend that may not be anticipated by the auctions houses.

Little by little, these auctions are becoming virtual events that are conveyed in tiny bits of oral drama to bidders on given lots. The only real question though is: why have a physical auction at all then? Especially when few of the bidders are really previewing the material, but depending on the very erratic condition reports from the auction houses. True, these condition reports have gotten a bit better after I complained about them in earlier newsletters (at least at certain houses, and in particular Sotheby's), but they still can not be depended on because the houses do not guarantee them. And I still see glaring problems with many images that are not noted in such condition reports. It is still "buyer beware" at these auction houses. Buying from a good photography dealer/gallery should be a better experience for most collectors. You not only avoid the mistakes commonly made at auctions, but you can also develop the knowledge and experience necessary, if you have a patient and knowledgeable dealer who will help educate you. You will buy often at a lower price, have terms to pay and often a guarantee of the work. A dealer can also even help you make good decisions at the auctions as you branch out.

But enough of my soapbox oration and back to the auctions and Sotheby's, which was up first in the order. The house offered the smallest number of lots of any other auction this fall at 247, but it also did the best on percentage sold (81.4%) and highest net per lot sold ($32,265). The nearly $6.5 million total take was not shabby either, only eclipsed by Christie's $7.59 million, which made it with 354 lots offered and an average of $27,207 per lot sold. And, as Denise Bethel pointed out to me, got the overall auction done so that those of us who attended could actually get out to lunch. Although it later ran so late that with the lack of cabs at that transition hour, it was nearly impossible to get back over to Christie's on time for their evening sale, despite that house delaying its opening by nearly 30 minutes. Timing between the houses now seems to have escalated as a problem. More on that in subsequent reports.

One can see the business economics taking over at Sotheby's. The top ten lots actually represented more than a third of the total take here--and all of it went to private collectors, or dealers bidding for private collectors. Dealers buying for inventory have dropped out of the auctions, more and more, because of the often steep higher-than-retail prices realised. But the auctions know that they make more money off of higher priced lots. The AVERAGE lot in this Fall's auctions (across all four houses) was just a shade under $20,000, including buyer's premium!

Because the lot average was so high here at Sotheby's, I will usually only report on those lots that sold for over $35,000 including the buyer's premium. Having just said that I will start with a lot just under that amount to give some perspective to the record that was to come later in the sale. Lot 11 was Ansel Adams' ubiquitous Moonrise, Hernandez. Estimated at $30,000-50,000, it sold for $32,400 to Santa Fe photo dealer Andrew Smith, who had a minor field day buying reasonably priced Adams work at this auction. Adams' photographs in general sold well here, as Sotheby's led with this perennially strong performer.

Phones and the room battled it out over lot 14, Adams' "Maroon Bells, Near Aspen, CO". In the end, one of the phones paid a whopping $64,800 for this portfolio VI print, which was estimated at only $20,000-30,000, which is about where it should have ended up. Why did it go so high? Well, lots of over-eager "art consultants" and phone bidders, who all seemed to exhibit their inexperience in overbidding this nice, but not rare portfolio print.

"Art consultant" seems to be one of the fastest growing employment opportunities around these days. Maybe I am being a bit too cynical, but I have seen a lot of dubious advice given lately by some of these newly minted consultants, who live on commissions. I don't want to tar all of them with the same brush though. There are a number who are highly experienced and do a first-rate job and warrant their commissions. Just be careful who you hire to do your auction bidding, advice and evaluation. Experience is a crucial component in this field. And, if you only pay the consultant if you win the lot, then you get advice that may be slightly skewed. And, yes, for the sake of full disclosure, like virtually every other dealer, I do provide this service as well. I charge 5% of the hammer price against a minimum of $125 in the U.S. and $250 internationally. The latter is there in case I advise you NOT to buy a photograph after viewing it.

The complete set of Adams' Parmelian prints of the High Sierras (lot 16), which was estimated at a tempting $30,000-50,000, sold for $88,800 to New York dealer Howard Greenberg over an absentee bidder and several phones. It was a record price for the work.

It was the next lot (17) that was expected to create a stir: a near vintage print of Adams' Moonrise, Hernandez (14-3/8 x 19-1/8"), the first to come up at auction since 1998. During that interim Adams' vintage prints have been making a move, as I had predicted in my April 2001 newsletter. Estimated at a modest $150,000-200,000 (for the print), this exceptional and early (1948, just after Adams intensified the negative, but still printed without the high contrast of later prints) Moonrise was sure to eclipse the record for a Moonrise and perhaps even the newly set Adams' record for his five-photo sequence of surf on the San Mateo county coastline ($352,000 at Sotheby's last April). Most of us thought that latter price might be just a touch high, considering the last 1948 print of Moonrise in 1998 (also at Sotheby's) brought a mere $49,450. The photograph in the current auction was, however, a spectacular print and emotions were running high. The phone bank was extremely active and so was the room. In the end it came down to two phones, slowing edging each other ever upward. First a $300,000 hammer price was breeched, then $400,000 and then even $500,000. The room was pretty quiet until the winning bidder took the prize at $530,000 hammer and a total price of $609,600, which was to be the highest priced lot at Sotheby's but only the second highest price of the New York Fall photography auction season. London dealer Hamiltons Galleries was the winning bidder, but they were bidding for a well-heeled private client.

There was no let-down on the next lot (18), Adams' Portfolio Two, which was estimated at $40,000-60,000. It went to a private collector's commission bid over a phone bidder for $120,000, which was good enough for eighth place on Sotheby's top ten. Nor the next lot (19), estimated at $20,000-30,000, which sold to a phone bidder for $40,800 over dealer Andrew Smith's underbid in the room.

Lot 28, probably a circa 1960 print of Adams' "Sunrise, Mt. McKinley", sold to the phone for just over the low estimate at $38,400.

A signed copy of the Steichen supplement (lot 30) sold in the room for the low estimate at $36,000.

The next big lot (37) was one of the few 19th-century pieces in these sales. Because of my own love of early 19th-century material and daguerreotypes, I wish I could be a little more enthusiastic about the Edgar Allan Poe dag by William Abbott Pratt. I wish I could, but I can't. It was a beat up copy daguerreotype and an average pose at best. Yes, such dags of Poe are relatively scarce (only two have come up for auction in the last century) and important, but this one did not really turn me on. There were others who at the right price level would have been happy with it though. The quarter plate was estimated at a reasonable (for its condition) $30,000-50,000, but it sold to a woman who collects Poe material in the room over a phone bidder for $150,000. That was high enough for the seventh highest priced lot of the sale.

A late-printed (well after he died) Weegee portfolio (lot 55), estimated at $50,000-70,000, only generated enough interest to be sold at $50,400, including the premium. It was fun though to see many of the lesser-known images in the group.

Another late-printed portfolio of Herbert Bayer's photomontages (lot 80) did much better, selling for more than double its high estimate at $76,800 to a phone bidder. Indiana dealer Lee Marks was the underbidder. Likewise, Werner Mantz's late portfolio of ten prints (lot 81) sold to a commission bidder over a phone for more than double the low estimate at $42,000. That is $4,200 per print.

W. Eugene Smith's iconic "Walk to Paradise" (lot 88) sold to photo dealer Richard Moore for $36,000.

One of Henri Cartier-Bresson's prints of "Seville" came under fire from a lot of bidders. It was said to be from the late 1940s-1950s, but it seemed to be clearly dated 10/50 in ink on the print, and this paper is clearly early 1950s rather than 1940s. Although there was a tear on the right side and some adhesive on the back, this was a very decent print. The estimate of $10,000-15,000 was a joke in today's market. San Francisco dealer Paul Hertzmann took the early lead, but it was savvy collector Michael Mattis over a phone bidder, who ultimately took the prize home for $45,600, a very good bargain indeed, considering that most Cartier-Bresson prints from this early period are now in six figures.

A phone bid up a Camera Works No.49/50 (lot 111) to well past its high estimate at $36,000, underbid by two women in the room.

Garry Winogrand's work continued on a hot streak during this auction season. His "Women Are Beautiful" portfolio (lot 116) sold for nearly the high estimate here at $98,400 to Santa Monica dealer Rose Shoshana over a phone bidder. That was good enough for ninth place in the top ten, but that was not the real Winogrand shocker here. Lot 123, "N.Y.C." (Woman Laughing with Ice Cream Cone) a vintage print of an image from the cover of that same portfolio, estimated at $20,000-30,000, more than doubled its high estimate at $74,400 (a new auction record for a single print for Winogrand). It went to the phone, but was underbid by New York dealer Peter MacGill. Then an "early" print of "Los Angeles, Calif." (lot 125) by Winogrand got bid up by Winogrand dealers Jeffrey Fraenkel and Peter MacGill. Fraenkel took the lot at nearly three times high estimate at $50,400. The next lot, Winogrand's "World's Fair, N.Y.C.", sold to Katheryne McCarver Root (over the underbid of Ute Hartjen of Camera Work gallery) for nearly three times estimate again at $38,400. This was "possibly" an early print.

Lot 128, Winogrand's "Central Park Zoo, N.Y.C.", sold to Peter MacGill for nearly three and half times the high estimate at $50,400. Then Jeffrey Fraenkel took the next lot "Untitled (from the Animals)" at $33,600. On lot 131, Winogrand's "Circle Line, N.Y.C.", Peter MacGill out dueled Jeffrey Fraenkel and paid more than three times high estimate at $55,200. But it was Fraenkel on the next two, taking lot 132, "Park Avenue" for $24,000 and lot 133 for $36,000--both well over the high estimate.

So how exactly does one tell a vintage print from an early print from a possibly early print from "exact date unknown" from a near vintage print from a later print, when all of them are from the 1960s-1970s and separated by about 10-15 years and no current objective scientific testing can tell them apart? Collector Michael Mattis joked that one of the prints was "likely an early print" (as the catalogue read), "because it was so beat up." Hmmm. On the other hand, these appeared to have been made earlier than those in the portfolio in 1981, but how much difference is that really when perhaps the time difference is only about 10 years or so.

Edward Weston's "Nude (Charis, Santa Monica)" printed by Brett Weston was estimated at $20,000-30,000. Before the Sotheby's New York Metropolitan/Gilman sale, this range might have easily held. But there a print of "Nude on the Sand", probably by Brett, sold for $168,000. The image here was a bit more sedate and perhaps the market is not quite ready to pay six figures for every Brett-printed Edward Weston print, especially since the real thing goes for virtually the same price. In this case, Lisa Jacobs bidding for a client took the lot away from a phone bidder for a more realistic total price of $52,800.

More of the real thing was lot 140, Weston's "Study of a Nude", a platinum print from 1922. Several key players knowledgeable about Weston told me that they just didn't think it was an image that appealed to them. I still personally thought it was classic. It sold at what looked like its reserve to a private collector on the phone for $262,400, which gave this print second place honors in the top ten of this auction.

Another Edward Weston nude, lot 142, "Bertha, Glendale", sold to a phone bidder for $33,600, but it was the story attached to this lot that was much more interesting than the image itself, which was very badly damaged. It looked like it had been crinkled together and then flattened and mounted on a new archival mount. And it was. Reportedly the print was run over--literally--after dealer Jeffrey Fraenkel's luggage broke and the photo fell out of a taxi at the long-time-ago AIPAD show in Houston, TX. It is a fairly rare image--and with this true provenance it now has a starry history as well.

The next lot, Paul Outerbridge's "Ethiopian Form", was bid up into the middle of its range at $60,000. Rose Shoshana bought it for a client over a phone bidder's efforts.

Lot 147 was a lovely Atget of a carousel (Fete du Trone), one of the nicer Atget's that I have seen come up at auction in quite a while. Estimated at only $15,000-25,000, it was a temptation. The commission bidder, phone and room all succumbed to desire, but it was Katheryn McCarver Root who outbid the group. This pretty print sold for $36,000--still an outstanding bargain in my opinion.

Up next the cover lot, Dora Maar's "Study for Petrole Hahn", which was estimated at $20,000-30,000, sold to California collector Jack Hastings at the back of the room for $93,600 over Howard Greenberg's underbid. That mark was good enough to just edge the lot into a tie for tenth place in this auction.

It is always fascinating to see how a big price (some might say, an outrageous price) draws out other examples of supposedly rare images. Lot 150, Jaromir Funke's "After the Carnival", was an image that was in a group of three Funke's (and one of the better of the three images) in the Met/Gilman sale earlier this year. That group sold for an astounding $156,000--a lot of money for pictorialist work. I had said at the time that I had seen other copies of these images, and, sure enough, up one popped. Jack Hastings kicked off the bidding, but it was dealer Lee Marks and the phones that really got the item up into the extremely-high-priced level. In this case, the phone edged Marks to take home this dubious prize (at this price at least) at a whopping $84,000. I am sure that there will be at least one other chance in the future to overpay for one.

Lot 154, Pierre Dubreuil's "L'Opera", was estimated at $80,000-120,000, but it had a hard time getting to even its reserve. Jack Hastings bid up a private collector's commission bid, but lost it to them at just below the low estimate at $93,600, including the buyer's premium. That price put the lot in a tie for tenth place in the top ten. Likewise Dubreuil's "The Woman Driver" (lot 155) sold to a phone bidder well below its low estimate at $76,800. And lot 156, his "Green Cup" was bought in at a mere $30,000. There appears to be a little luster off the current market for Dubreuil, whose work always struck me as a bit more salon pictorialist than modernist. But Rick Wester and Tom Jacobson had done a superb job of building Dubreuil's market and image as a modernist and established extremely high prices that may now be difficult to increase.

Man Ray's late-printed "La Priere" (lot 158) sold to a phone bidder for more than double its low estimate at $40,800. You might have thought that they confused it with a vintage print at that price.

Maurice Tabard's photomontage (Standing Nude with Superimposed Face) (lot 161) was a wonderful Tabard that was estimated at $30,000-50,000. New York dealer Howard Greenberg's winning bid of $57,600 set a new world auction record for the artist.

Irving Penn's work is still on a run. He will be 90 next year. His "Woman with Roses", although not a rare print at all (edition of 40 plus AP's in platinum), always does well, and this auction was no exception. A woman in the room took the lot, estimated at $100,000-150,000, for well over the high estimate at $204,000. She was underbid by Penn's dealer Peter MacGill. She also took lot 173, Penn's "Black and White Vogue Cover (Jean Patchett)" for just over the low estimate at $192,000. Sotheby's reported these both selling to a private collector. The prices realized were good enough to make these two lots fifth and sixth in Sotheby's top ten.

Hollywood collector Leon Constantiner (my apologies to him for some past reports where I dropped the r off his last name) took Penn's "Harlequin Dress" (lot 170) in an edition of 30 plus AP's for the low estimate at $240,000. It was the third highest priced lot of the day at Sotheby's.

The rather disturbing "Man with Pink Face, New Guinea" (lot 174) by Penn sold to a phone bidder for well over double the high estimate (estimate $12,000-18,000) at $52,800. And Penn's dye-transfer of "Frozen Food, New York" (lot 176) sold to German dealer Ute Hartjen of Camera Work for just below the low estimate at $43,200.

It took the ever-hot Robert Frank to bring the price levels back to my $35,000 cut-off. His "Indianapolis" (lot 203) sold to dealer Lee Marks for $60,000, which was well below the low estimate (including buyer's premium). Then came Frank's great image of "New Orleans (Trolley)" (lot 205). The odd thing though was that this print was--for me--totally unlikable with little of the warmth that one often sees with Frank's prints. And I was not alone in this opinion. Several knowledgeable dealers expressed the same feeling. The reproduction in the catalogue looks much better than the print itself, which also had minor corner bumps. But this didn't stop the phones from bidding away as if this was a spectacular vintage print. Estimated at a relatively expensive $80,000-120,000, the lot easily passed the high estimate and kept going. A private collector on the phone set a new world auction record for Frank at $204,000. That price was also good enough for fourth place in the auction's top ten. Oddly enough, lot 207, a very good print of a key Frank image from the Americans, passed at $48,000.

Diane Arbus continues to show up in quantity in the auctions. A Neil Selkirk-printed "Junior Interstate Ballroom Dance Champions, Yonker, NY" (lot 209) sold to a phone for above the low estimate at $44,400. But then the Selkirk portfolio print of Twins was bought in at $110,000 despite Jeffrey Fraenkel's encouraging bid. A collector in the room then bought lot 211, a Selkirk print of "Woman with Veil on Fifth Ave., NYC", for more than double the low estimate at $40,800.

The Lewis Baltz Nevada portfolio sold for just above high estimate to a phone bidder for $45,600.

A large color print by Ormond Gigli (his last name sounds just like what I feel when I see these prints selling) sold to a phone bidder for well over the high estimate at $48,000. Lot 227, an Adam Fuss photogram from his "My Ghost" series, sold for over the high estimate at $55,200 to a phone bidder over dealer Howard Greenberg's underbid.

Lot 228, a large Helmut Newton of "Panoramic Nude--The School Teacher, Lake Como" that was backed with Plexiglas, sold for more than double the low estimate at $50,400. It sold to a phone bidder. Just a note: Plexiglas can shatter and crack.

Robert Mapplethorpe's flowers had mixed results here. Lot 229, the set of ten photogravures, sold to a phone for mid-range at $38,400. The next lot, "Rose (with Smoke)", sold to another phone bidder for the low estimate at $36,000, but the next lot, "Irises", was bought in at $55,000, against a reaching estimate of $70,000-100,000.

The last lot of the day, Philip-Lorca DiCorcia's "London" (lot 248) sold to a nearly empty room, but that didn't make a difference to the phone bidders. It sold well above high estimate at $40,800.

Then the only problem was trying to catch that taxi downtown to Christie's evening sale in a drenching downpour right at the time that taxis are in the middle of a shift changeover. I sure wish the auction houses would do a little better on the timing of all of this. But then again, they don't seem to care if anyone shows up in the room or not these days.
 

The Be-hold 48 absentee catalog/internet auction will take place on December 7, 2006 with an adventurous presentation of photographs, from daguerreotypes to modern.

There is an interesting selection of offbeat but pedigree prints by major masters in this sale, including a New York City store window with classic sculpture by Kertesz, a vintage 1944 store window with fishing-related objects by Todd Webb and a rare 1952 signed photograph of a scene in Italy by Paul Strand. There are also a 1940s portrait of Beaumont Newhall by Ansel Adams, a large brilliant portrait of the Japanese Nobel-prize winning novelist Kawabata by Karsh, a large 1955 landscape by Ilse Bing, several usual prints by W. Eugene Smith and two Atget photographs printed by Berenice Abbott. More contemporary landscapes by John Wimberly and Charles Roff are also in this auction.

A section of documentary and journalistic photographs includes an important 1937 exhibition print by Gisele Freund of Andre Malraux and a bombardier during the Spanish Civil War, opening at only $400. There are also Spanish Civil War and WWII prints by Robert Capa. An early (one of two prints) photograph by Arthur Siegel, an early print of an FSA photograph by Jack Delano of a gypsy child in Maryland (cover of the catalog) and an early (if printed somewhat later) print of a Margaret-Bourke White photograph dealing with the 1947 migration to Pakistan are also included in this section.

A highlight of the sale are several lots offering an archive of photographs dealing with the great Nez Perce Chief Joseph and his surviving band of warriors who were exiled to the Colville reservation in Washington State. Of the great Indian warrior chiefs, including Geronimo and Sitting Bull, Joseph was the only one who remained in his traditional role as leader of his tribe in exile. This archive is further enhanced by the provenance which stemmed from the family of the daughter of a couple who taught at the Indian School at the reservation around 1900. As a young girl she served as an interpreter for Joseph and those who photographed these important images.

Another major archive chronicles the voyage of the U.S.S. Thetis to Alaska and the Arctic in 1888-89. There are many photographs of native peoples and shipboard life, annotated by a member of the crew. Many have an intimate informal character. Another significant offering is a group of rare carte-de-visites by Lawrence and Houseworth of mining scenes in Nevada and California, as well as scenes in and around San Francisco. While these may seem to be primarily of historical interest, they are masterpieces of artistic composition. Several lots are devoted to rare Hawaiian subjects. An album of photographs of Iraq (1928c) has striking reverberation to current news. Aside from the topographic photographs, it includes scenes of British planes flying over the landscape, and some planes damaged in their hangars.

In the last few years "vernacular" photographs have come to be associated with 20th-century snapshots, but Be-hold continues to offer photographs from throughout the history of photography that appeal to contemporary and not just antiquarian sensibilities. A good example is a photograph of the head of the Statue of Liberty before it was assembled, an image that has a compelling photographic quality that transcends its original purpose. A section of these offerings called "Scenes of American Life" includes many other images, for example a group relating to the circus, that have a photographic power that is far beyond their documentary function.

The traditional formats of daguerreotypes and stereo views are well represented. Notable daguerreotypes include a fine colored portrait of a fireman, a gold miner in the studio, and men with their dog.

A preview and reception will take place in New York City on Dec. 1-3. The Reception, which will be held on Dec. 1-2, Friday and Saturday at 5 pm at the Affinia 50 Hotel, 155 E. 50th St. The preview will also be held at the Affinia 50 Hotel, Dec.1, Friday from 3-9 pm and Dec. 2, Saturday from 9 am-9 pm; and Dec. 3, Sunday from 9 am-12 pm. The online auction will be held on Dec.7, Thursday, starting at 2 pm. For further information email: behold@be-hold.com or contact Larry Gottheim at 1-914-423-5806. Information and scans can be found on the Be-hold.com web site at http://www.be-hold.com/ , and there is an informative illustrated printed catalog available to purchase by contacting Be-Hold.
 

Bassenge Photography Auctions is offering 382 lots in their upcoming photography auction on Dec. 6, 2006. Vintage prints by renowned photographers are among the wide selection being auctioned, ranging from the earliest photographers such as the German photographer Meylius to 20th-century masters such as Brassai and Krull to cutting edge contemporary photographers such as Gregory Crewdson.

Landscapes range from 19th-century ones by Bourne & Shepherd, Francis Frith, Scowen, G. Sommer and A. Kotzsch to 20th- and 21st-century photographs by A.Adams, J. Breitenbach, G. Crewdson, W. Eggleston, F. Fontana, P. Keetman, A. Renger-Patzsch and Rodchenko, as well as by lesser known photographers such as J. Burke and William Barker, F.J. Fridrich, R. Bothner, U. Brodmann and others.

Intriguing portraits include an icon of photography "La môme Bijou" in a fine signed later print by Brassai. There are also portraits of Joseph Beuys (Zoa), Richard Strauss (Binder), Max Ernst (J. Breitenbach), Greta Garbo (C.S. Bull), Alfred Döblin (J. Schmidt), Werner Fink (F. Eschen), Cindy Sherman (A. Frajndlich), Orson Welles (E. Haas), Anna May Wong (G. Hurrell), Mary Wigman and Albert Einstein (Lotte Jacobi), Ernest Hemingway and Alberto Moravia (Y. Karsh), Max Klinger and Franz Marc (by unknown photographers), Jean Cocteau (H. Martinie), Robert Rauschenberg (H. Namuth), Gerhard Richter (D. Schwerdtle), Marilyn Monroe (B. Stern), Hans Bellmer (K. Szekessy).

There is also a wide range of attractive city and architecture views by Baldus, Hammerschmidt, Krone, Mieusement, Meylius, F.A. Schwarz, Atget,W. Mantz, etc.

Object, experimental and "straight" photography is represented in the work by W. Evans, Finsler, R. Häusser, C. Höfer, G.R. Hoxie, W. Kessels, F. Lazi, K. Bringmann, Hajek-Halke, R. Horn, G. Klucis, Les Krims, B. Halpern Cutler, L. Jacobi, F. Bruguiere and J. Dreville.

Lovers of travel, fashion and erotic photography will also find some real treasures, including a Germaine Krull portfolio "Akte" from 1924, as well as very interesting ethnographic material from mid-19th century.

If you have any questions or need condition reports, please contact the photography expert Jennifer Augustyniak, Tel.: +4930 219 97 277 Fax: +4930 219 97 105 or e-mail jennifer@bassenge.com . Remember that in the U.S. you should dial 011 first and then the number. From other countries it is usually 00 and then the number.

The auction will be held on Dec.6, Wednesday at 15:00, Erdener Str. 5a, 14193 Berlin, Germany, tel.: +4930 893 80290, fax.: +4930 89180 25.

You can preview the work from Nov. 27-Dec 5, Monday-Tuesday from 10-18:00, as well as by appointment, at Rankestr. 24, 10789 Berlin, Germany (near the Gedächtniskirche), tel.: +49 30 219 97 277. The online catalogue can be found at: http://www.bassenge.com .
 

In case you missed it last time, newsletter readers can now see a special End-of-the-Year Holiday sale on I Photo Central brought to you by all five of the website's photography dealers. These items are available at special sale prices (from 20 to over 60% off the regular list price) for just three more weeks, from now until December 15th. Many of the items' regular list prices were reduced earlier, so the actual net reductions may be well over 40% to 80% in many instances. These are all final prices, so no other discounts apply. Shipping/insurance may also be added. Photographs continue to be added to the sale so check back.

There are some great deals, so review them soon at: http://www.iphotocentral.com/sale/sale.php .

If you want to do further sorts on the sale list, you can go to the Search Images page at http://www.iphotocentral.com/search/search.php and put EndofYearSale1 into the key word field. Then you can also use the other search fields, such as price range, country, date range, etc. When you have all your choices made, simply hit the Search button (not the Show All Images button). When you put in the key word, you must have the capital letters in properly and no space between the words or the number "1". Also make sure you do not have any extra space after the key word. This way if you are bargain hunting, you can put in a range from $1 to $500, or if you want to focus on the top end, just put in a range from $1000 (or $5000) to No Limit.

To introduce a new feature on the website, a number of photography dealers on I Photo Central are also running a special Book Sale offer on most of the books we have recently posted up on line. Most are now at a 20% or even greater discount. You will also save shipping costs if you order $250 or more per dealer.

You will find some of the rarest and most sought-after books and portfolios, including Henri Cartier-Bresson's two magnus opuses (The Decisive Moment and Les Europeens); dozens of signed books from leading photographers (such Eggleston, Kertesz, Friedlander, Sudek, Avedon, Lyon, Teske, Clark, Sturges, Weston, Bernhard, Davidson, Witkin, Shibata, Siskind, Warhol, Michals, Doyle, Levinson, Fee, Webb and others); and some of the hardest to find incunabula from the earliest days of photography, for instance, the collected papers presented at the Academy of Sciences in Paris in 1839 announcing the invention of photography, including the famous report by Arrago, a 19th-century reproduction of the correspondence between Daguerre and Niepce, and a Rare 1851 First Volume of the influential Journal La Lumiere--only about a dozen copies exist, most in French public institutions. Also included are photo-illustrated books and portfolios, such as Peter Henry Emerson's "The Compleat Angler" and "Wild Life on a Tidal Water", plus many modern portfolios and books with prints.

Of course, there are also many other very low priced photography books listed on the site that can fill in your library or make great holiday presents. And many more books have been and will be added to the list over the next three weeks (and beyond), so keep checking back.

The Book Sale can be found at: http://www.iphotocentral.com/sale/result_list.php/32/Booksale1/0 .

While the books can be searched on the regular Search pages with the drop-down menu on media (just select "books"), we expect to soon have an entirely separate photography bookstore--the first such multi-dealer version on the web.

I encourage bookstores with a photography orientation to contact me at 1-215-822-5662 for details on how to join I Photo Central and put inventory into this new internet resource. And I encourage our newsletter readers to go and see the many rare photography books currently on sale on the site. Many are rare first editioned and signed copies. Others will make great additions to any research library.
 

As I said last newsletter, I will attend Art Basel Miami and Photo Miami from December 6-9. If you will be attending any of the shows in Miami at that time, please give me a call at 1-215-822-5662 now to set up an appointment to discuss or view any of Vintage Works, Ltd.'s images or if you would like my help down at the shows.

If you want me to bring any specific pieces, you must call our office by or before December 5th. Or you can reach me on my mobile once I am down in Miami Beach at 1-215-518-6962. To email me directly while I am away from my office, send your email to anovak@iphotocentral.com . I will be staying at the Atlantic Oceanfront Hotel at 4101 Collins Ave. (at 41st St.), Miami Beach, FL.
 

During the final hours on the last day of Paris Photo 2006 (Nov. 19), several framed photographs and one oceanic object were stolen from Galerie Daniel Blau's booth. They had been locked up in the closet while their shipper delivered works to the truck. During these five minutes, the closet in which the items were stored was forced open and a second door was opened with a key and the items stolen.

The description of the stolen items follows:

-One diptych of nuclear tests in the Bikini Atoll, 1946, vintage black and white silver gelatin prints, each 23.3 x 45.4 cm (plus margins). The prints were framed in light colored wooden frames that were 30 x 51 cm and finally wrapped in bubble foil together. The first photo shows the test area with beach and palms in the foreground and the ocean with ships on it in the background. The second photo shows the same area, with the mushroom cloud rising up from the ocean.

-One Margaret Bourke-White vintage photograph titled: "Path of a Parachute Flare (Moscow)", 1941, vintage silver gelatin print, 25.7 x 33.6 cm, framed in a light colored wooden frame, 60 x 48 cm, and also wrapped in bubble foil. This is the well known image used for the dust cover and on page 190 of "Shooting the Russian War" by M. Bourke-White. It shows Moscow at night, dimly illuminated by the magnesium torches falling from the sky.

-One ancient stone fiber beater from New Zealand of about 25 cm length and 8 cm diameter. A hand tool, in the shape of a stout club, like a short version of a British policeman's club.

If you have been offered these pieces, or know anything about their whereabouts, please contact Daniel Blau at the number below, the Paris police, your local police or the staff of Paris Photo immediately.

Daniel Blau
Galerie Daniel Blau
Odeonsplatz 12
80539 Munich
Germany
tel. +49 89 297342
fax +49 89 24204860
email: contact@danielblau.de .