For a limited time, Newsletter readers can shop our Annual End-of-the-Year Holiday sale on I Photo Central, which is brought to you by some of the website's photography dealers. These items are available at special sale prices (all at least 40% off the regular list price) only until December 18th. 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, and the discounts will not be available after December 18th. Shipping/insurance will also be added, plus you will be responsible for any applicable taxes or customs fees.

There are some great deals, so check them out 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 HolidaySale1 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.

 

By Alex Novak

Bloomsbury Auctions had the unenviable position of being first up in this series of fall auctions here in New York City. According to auction writer Stephen Perloff (more on Steve in a story below), few people in the small auction room were there to bid, but plenty of consignors were there to watch the results. They were probably not too happy.

At a mere 17.8% of its photographs sold, Bloomsbury was the only house to do poorly this time around. It did better on its large book selection and sold through at a respectable 63.8%. Overall the auction sold only 32.5% of the total lots, which with premium (now raised from 20 to 22%--a big mistake in my opinion) totaled well under $1/4 million. That is an average of considerably less than $2,500 per lot.

I think the auction house might have done a bit better had it matched up its sale date with Swann, which chose a date two weeks later than most. Bloomsbury also must start to really promote its auctions and develop its mailing lists for this relatively new category for this house, and instead its management seems to be retrenching.

It is actually too bad. The house did a nice job on its catalogue, and the material--while somewhat lower in value--was priced well. There were definite bargains to be had here: just very few bidders.

The top image lot in the auction was #19, a dynamic fashion shot of Cyd Charisse in an evening dress by Macrini by Richard Avedon, which sold for a total of $21,960 with the new higher premium.

The top book lot was #229, a signed and dedicated copy of William Klein's "Life Is Good & Good for You in New York", which sold for just $7,930.

The Weegee's from the Suzanne and Hugh Johnston Weegee Collection, which were featured in the sale, seemed to be a strategic mistake: too many and at too high a price for this market. Out of 51 Weegees in the auction, only five sold.

But there were certainly a lot more positive notes to this auction season at the big two, Christie's and Sotheby's, so we will move on to those venues.

 

By Alex Novak

While the remainder of the Berman collection didn't have the drama of a million dollar-plus lot, it still did surprisingly well for what could only be considered largely average color landscapes (although some images were a stretch to call "landscapes"). Christie's managed a solid 88% sold by lot and the totals were over $1.5 million with the steep buyers' premiums. All prices below include these premiums. I will only hit those lots that broke over $20,000 with the premium.

Alec Soth's No. 48, Cadillac Motel, 2005, from his series Niagara, (lot 4) did very well, eclipsing its high estimate by a substantial amount. A phone bidder got the lot, which was featured on the front cover, at $21,250.

Lot 9, Erwin Olaf's The Hallway, sold to an order bidder after multiple order bids and phones bid the lot up to double its midpoint estimate. It sold for a whopping $25,000.

Eggleston, who was the focus of one of the Berman sales previously, did well here too. Lot 30 sold to a man in the room (bidder 177), who was fairly active during the sales here at Christie's. The lot, a dye transfer of Eggleston's Varner Grocery, sold for $21,250.

Don't ask me why but lot 34, a disjointed Stephen Shore (one of the most over-rated of the American colorists in my opinion) of U.S. Rt. 10, Post Falls, ID, sold to a phone bidder for well over its high estimate at $20,000. It was a chromogenic photograph printed later and so, mercifully, unlike most of his earlier badly color-shifted and faded photographs from this period of the 1970s, you could actually see what was going on (although you might be bored to tears with the actuality of it).

Lot 37, Richard Misrach's large "The Santa Fe", another chromogenic print from 1995, also was bid up well over its high estimate by a man in the room, who left immediately after snagging it for $47,500. Christie's indicated that the buyer was "private", whatever that means. Christie's used to indicate whether a bidder was a collector or trade and where they were located. It was certainly a strong image, although Fraenkel Gallery has shown several more interesting than this one recently, in my opinion, and probably a bit more permanent as well.

Chris Jordan's Container Yard #1, Seattle in color pigment ink jet print (lot 40) sold for double its high estimate to a phone bidder at $20,000. L.A. dealer Paul Kopeikin (whose name was misspelled in Christie's catalogue) must have been overjoyed at the price, which was a new world auction record for Jordan's work.

Another Richard Misrach, lot 107, Untitled #13-02, from On the Beach, sold to a persistent phone bidder over a woman in the room. The price, $68,500, established a new world auction record for the artist. Again, Christie's notes that the buyer was "private".

On Eggleston's Untitled, Berlin (lot 121), a bidding war broke out between New York dealer Deborah Bell and Ute Hartjen of Berlin's Camera Works. Bell won out with a bid nearly four times the high estimate at $27,500. While it is a strong and typical Eggleston color exercise of a dark green radiator and in quite a small edition size (1/5), I thought it was a bit expensive given that it is an early chromogenic print (at least according to the catalogue), very small in physical size (11 x 7-1/4) and German rather than American. By the way, Bell used numerous paddles during this auction and was apparently bidding for multiple clients here.

Bidder 177 was back on the next lot, another Eggleston, Untitled, Memphis, taking it for $20,000. It was a dye transfer, but it wasn't my favorite (a brick apartment).

Lot 134, Robert Polidori's 2732 Orleans Ave, New Orleans, LA, set an auction record for this group of work, although missed on setting an overall auction record at a total of $47,500. It sold to a phone bidder, which Christie's again termed "private". The image was used on the cover of Polidori's book, "After the Flood".

Lot 143, the back cover image of the Christie's catalogue, was a Stephen Shore that I actually liked called Sunset Drive-In, West 9th Avenue, Amarillo, TX 1974, but in a digital pigment print made in 1996 before such inks were encapsulated. That means that the print could be subject to some fading and color shifts if it is subject to ozone (this aspect of ink jet prints was corrected shortly after this). A woman and man battled it out in the room with the woman taking it for $25,000.

Stephen Shore's "Group of Photographs from 'Uncommon Places', 20 chromogenic prints made about 1994 (lot 146), sold to a single order bidder for the reserve, which was 25% below the low estimate at $37,500.

Likewise Bruce Davidson's Subway portfolio, a group of 47 dye transfer prints (lot 151), sold to another single order bid at 20% below the low estimate at $146,500. Christie's claimed that this was a world auction record for the artist, but I do not recognize group or portfolio claims like this, which should be reserved for single photographs. Again Christie's indicated that the buyer was "private".

Robert Polidori was having a decent day here. His NY Public Library, Reading Room sold to the room for $20,000.

An interesting Eggleston dye transfer print of red gas pumps titled "Near Greenwood, MS" sold to a man in the room for double the high estimate at $37,500.

Finally, Joel Sternfeld's ever popular and highly seasonal image of McLean, VA, December 4, 1978 in a 15 x 19 inch dye transfer sold just over its high estimate for $32,500 to an Internet bidder.

 

By Alex Novak

The single-owner sale at Christie's evening sale of Sally Mann photographs did reasonably well, selling 79.7% of the lots and netting $667,625 including the steep Christie's premiums. I have limited my reporting to those lots that hit $20,000 or more

Lot 307, Candy Cigarette, sold for an artist world auction record of $68,500, just over its high estimate, to a "private" party.

Lot 309, The Last Time Emmett Modeled Nude, also sold well at $40,000—again over the high estimate and to another "private" party. Jessie in the Wind (lot 317) was another top seller at $27,500.

Night Blooming Cereus (lot 326), the cover of Mann's book, "Still Time", sold for $22,500, which was just below the low estimate. Damaged Child (lot 336) sold for $22,500, just at the high estimate. Lot 345, Virginia #36, one of only a few of her later pieces (and atypical of them), sold for just above the high estimate for $27,500. And the last lot in the sale, lot 358, Emmett, Jessie and Virginia, the cover of Mann's book, "Immediate Family", sold over the high estimate at $22,500.

 

By Alex Novak

Randy Plummer and Harvey Miller decided to build a joint photography collection in the Spring of 1973. It was Miller's encounter with a Julia Margaret Cameron portrait of John Herschel that convinced him of the validity of photography as a true art medium, and he convinced his friend Plummer to join his quest to build such a collection.

Both are sort of neighbors of mine, and I've encountered one or the other at local or far-flung events. While there were some real gems in the collection, there were also many understandably iconic, but later-printed images or simply a few average ones that didn't quite measure up condition-wise. Nonetheless, the auction did very well by selling 76% of the lots for $1,832,625 with Christie's steep buyers' premium, and there were some spectacular, surprisingly high bids on a few lots.

If I were Miller and Plummer, I would seriously consider making a nice cash donation to the George Eastman House. It was this institution's exhibition and catalogue of their collection that put it on the map drawing some of these prices. The G.E.H could certainly use the help.

All prices below include these premiums. I will mostly hit those lots that broke over $20,000 with the premium. By the way, if you were interested in why some of these lots didn't sell, I have one word for you: condition.

Lot 516 showed one of Edward Weston's many cats perched on a piece of driftwood. Cat-lover or Weston-lover, Janet Russek of Santa Fe's Scheinbaum & Russek, Ltd. fought off a phone bidder to capture Weston's "Johnny", which Weston himself termed, "my best cat portrait." It sold for $23,750.

The Alexander Gardner Sketchbooks (lot 521) seemed underestimated at $40,000-60,000, considering several have sold above $100,000. Numerous dealers in the room were bidding this one up, but it ultimately sold to another dealer on a phone for $92,500, which placed the lot into the second highest spot overall in this sale. The condition wasn't spectacular, but then some of the more recently auctioned ones haven't been either. This dealer (bidder 1745) was later very active on many other 19th-century lots in the sale.

A decent 1/6-plate daguerreotype portrait of Capt. Charles John Biddle (lot 522) by early American daguerreotypist Robert Cornelius sold to a phone bidder for a reasonable $3,750.

The next lot, also a daguerreotype, would get a lot more action, especially considering that it was placed on the back cover of the catalogue. Estimated at a very tempting (and impractically low) $15,000-25,000, this beautiful 1/4 -plate image by Marcus Aurelius Root of his son, Albert Pritchard, asleep by an American flag would get bids from several sources in the room and on the phone. Swiftly climbing to $74,500, which put it in a tie for sixth place overall in the auction, the ultimate bidder was not one of the normal suspects, such as collector Bruce Lundberg, curator Keith Davis or dealer Willy Schaeffer, most of whom appeared interested. Instead it was a new French collector, who was being advised by the very wily Pierre Apraxine, the former curator of the Gilman collection, who is credited with one of the best eyes in the business. The pair, sitting side by side during the auction, would be very active on some key pieces in the sale.

The collector--I learned later from Paris photo dealer Baudoin Lebon--was Francoise-Marie Banier, a novelist/writer, painter and photographer. He contributes frequently to "The New Yorker" and to "Les Cahiers du Cinéma". He is represented in the U.S. by Gagosian Gallery.

Lot 529, the first of the Irving Penn lots to come up for auction just days after he passed away, was one of his cigarette images and not one of my favorites (Cigarette No.86). Underestimated at $12,000-18,000, it sold to a phone bidder for very high $37,500.

Penn's prices in this season's auction sales were all over the map, some very high and some actually very low. I expect that the low results reflected that only a few people got the word of his death (literally the day before these sales) before bidding this time out and the slow economy. It also seems to take one auction cycle at a minimum for the market to take in the impact, as it did with Avedon, as photography commentator Stephen Perloff told me during these sales. But then there were some extraordinarily high prices as well, which you will see later.

I'm not sure how this catalogue was designed or laid out. Sometimes I felt whiplashed back and forth between immensely disparate lots. Lot 531 was a 1925 Lazslo Moholy-Nagy photogram from Dessau. Estimated at a still reasonable $60,000-80,000, it sold for only $47,500 to New York dealer Howard Greenburg. It was a real bargain. There were to be other such bargains in these Fall auctions, despite their overall strength.

From a Moholy-Nagy photogram we swung to the beginning of photography and William Henry Fox Talbot. His "Pencil of Nature" (lot 532) sold to New York dealer Hans Kraus, Jr. for four times its admittedly low estimate at $30,000. The next lot, Talbot's "Sun Pictures in Scotland", went for five times its estimate at $62,500. It sold to a dealer on the phone over another phone. Kraus had dropped out much earlier on this lot. While these were rare publications, their photographs were typically faded. The Sun Pictures was the eighth highest price paid for a lot in this auction.

It was the very next lot that got all the buzz at this sale--at least after the bidding was over on it. Lot 534 was another ¼-plate daguerreotype by Marcus Aurelius Root, estimated for what I thought at the time to be a reasonable $20,000-30,000. Again the phones and normal suspects entered the fray, but also again it was collector Francoise-Marie Banier (with Pierre Apraxine whispering in his ear) that came away with this little treasure. The price? An astonishing $350,000! This set a world auction record for the artist (as did the previous Root) and made this lot the most expensive in the sale.

The two Root daguerreotypes actually brought in over 23% of the entire auction total here. Daguerreotypes due to their uniqueness can sometimes bring on bidding wars that are just unexplainable to the casual observer, but they do attract the passionate collector and curator.

Lot 535, Mathew Brady's large salt print portrait of Samuel Morse with His Recorder, attracted New York dealer Charles Isaacs and several phone bidders. But it was a phone bidder that ultimately bought this one for $37,500, more than triple the high estimate. The print could only be called average at best, but it was an important historical piece.

This bidder (1763) bought several other important 19th-century American pieces in this sale, including the previous Cornelius daguerreotype. In fact this bidder again came out on top on lot 538, the Victor Prevost Columbia College salt print, which was finally nailed down at $23,750 over the underbid by San Francisco dealer Michael Shapiro. The price was about four times the high estimate. Charles Isaacs had dropped out along the way at about $10,000 (double the high estimate).

Bidder 1745, a dealer on the phone who had bought the earlier Gardner Sketchbooks, was back on the next lot (539), an uncut Charles Negre of the Recreation Room at the Imperial Asylum at Vincennes. Despite being a bit light in the center, it sold for a much underpriced $12,500. They also picked up lot 542 (Alphonse Mucha of a Model) and the three Auguste Salzmann's (lots 552-554), all for very good prices.

Another dealer on the phone took an almost complete set (six plates missing from the Steichen issue) of Camera Work for the reserve at a mere $80,500 versus an estimate of $90,000-120,000 plus 25% premium. Lot 547 was clearly a steal at this price.

Lot 550 was a rare Talbotype by the Langenheim brothers of a lighthouse under construction in Florida. The phones bid up dealer Hans Kraus, Jr., who had to pay $20,000, more than double its high estimate.

Lot 557, two tiny 1/9th-plate tintypes of what were being called two "hunchbacks" by Silas A. Holmes, received more than a few comments. Several vernacular dealers felt they were just of two people photographed from the back, which is rather common. The pair of tintypes sold to a phone bidder for $1,375, who obviously believed the catalogue description, found the tintypes rare and apparently didn't mind their less than perfect condition.

The results on lot 560, Baron De Meyer's Water Lilies, and the version in the regular multi-owner Christie's sale of the same image show why you should try to always buy the earliest and best prints you can. This one in the Miller-Plummer collection sold way under the low estimate at the reserve for $25,000 to a phone bidder--and frankly that might have been too high a price. It was printed in the 1940s instead of 1906 when the negative was made. It was a rather plain silver print, instead of the lovely platinum print of lot 819 in the multi-owner sale, which set a new world auction record for the artist at $170,500! (More on that sale in the next newsletter, along with coverage of the other auction action.)

Dealer Howard Greenburg came back on lot 562, the other Moholy-Nagy photogram in the sale. He had to battle off Michael Shapiro with a phone in his ear and several phone bidders, but he still stole this one at just under half its low estimate at $27,500.

One comment on lot 564, the cyanotype of a fern (with its actual mounted fern), which sold to a phone bidder for $18,700. The description that the piece "was originally mistaken for Anna Atkin's own work" is slightly misleading, to say the least. I have examined several of these prints from the Hatton Fern album and matched the handwriting exactly to samples of writings by Anna Atkins herself. These can be found in her Algae album and her letters. The ferns that are usually attributed to Atkins (including one earlier in this sale) are actually by Anne Dixon, who was helped by Atkins. The handwriting on those cyanotypes is in Dixon's hand, not Atkins', just to once and for all clear up this misattribution to a Mrs. Hatton and other such nonsense that I have seen.

The Dorothea Lange "Migrant Mother" (lot 580) was a strange print for me. It had been bought from Lee Witkin about 1981, but the big question was when was the print made and by whom? It sold to a phone bidder for over the high estimate for $86,500, which would have been a very good price if the piece was vintage. If I were the phone bidder, I would black light the print and then have the paper tested even if it didn't glow. Christie's said it was a "private" bidder and the print received the third highest price in this auction.

I have no clue as to what either Christie's or the phone bidder was thinking on lot 584, Constant Famin's Figure in Forest, Fontainebleau. Estimated at a ridiculous $15,000-25,000, this image wouldn't have sold for 1500 euro (or $2,250) at a French auction. But it sold here for $12,500. Famin is not particularly rare or important, and this print was actually not in great condition on top of that. Just plain silly.

The next lot, on the other hand, was a lovely and rare arrowroot print of St. Cloud by Eugene Atget. While the estimate was up there, I still think the $56,250 price tag that it ultimately sold for was well worth it. Dealer Charles Isaacs got it for about the reserve.

Lot 594, Edward Weston's Potato Cellar, Lake Tahoe sold to New York dealer Robert Mann for $22,500, which--while over the high estimate--was still a real bargain.

The last time that I saw an auction record for the Irving Penn of a Chimney Sweep, London (lot 598) it sold for $3,450 at Sotheby's NY in April 1996. A few of these "Small Trades", as Penn and the Getty Museum Show (on exhibit through January 10th) of the same name call it, have sold for teens through about $30,000. I actually had a client on this one who hoped to steal one in this market, not counting on Penn's untimely death.

Estimated at an admittedly too low $10,000-15,000, the lot soared as phone bidders couldn't bid fast or often enough. Finally one phone bidder took this excellent platinum-palladium print for a whopping $74,500, a tie with one of the Root daguerreotypes for sixth place in this auction. This one seemed to be definitely influenced by the events. I have seen great variability lately on Penn platinums, but admittedly this was a beautiful print. Christie's gave this one its ambiguous "private" buyer designation.

Lot 604, the Frederick H. Evans "Sea, Sky and Sand" platinum print sold for nearly three times its high estimate at $21,250.

The large and beautiful Heinrich Kuehn gum print of "In Bacino di San Marco, Venezia" (19-7/8 x 25-1/4 in.) sailed above its high estimate to $86,500 and sold to a dealer on the phone. The price tied the lot for third place here and was a new world auction record for the artist.

Lot 614 was a Ray Metzker contact strip composite. Christie's had a pre-sale announcement on the piece that mentioned: 1.) that the illustration should have been a vertical with the left-hand edge at the top; 2.) the edition should have read 3/20 instead of 5/20; and 3.) the edition was never completed and only three were actually made! It would wind up selling for over the high estimate at $22,500 to a gentleman sitting closely next to Howard Greenburg. He had to battle off Metzker dealer Lawrence Miller and an Internet bidder to get it though.

The final lot of this sale set another world auction record for an artist. This time it was for Joel-Peter Witkin of Le Braiser, NM. Estimated at $8,000-12,000, it soared well over its high estimate at $50,000. It was sold to an art consultant in the room over Paris dealer Baudoin Lebon.


(More auction reports including Christie's, Sotheby's and Swann's multi-owner auctions coming up in the next newsletter)

 

Villa Grisebach Auktionen in Berlin will offer over 180 lots on November 26, 2009 (Thanksgiving Day in the U.S.) with its sale of Modern and Contemporary Photography.

After the successful Spring sale of the photographs of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's architecture, Grisebach will auction off another rare vintage print of the architect's famous model for a glass skyscraper. The print is dedicated to Peter Behrens and estimated at 18,000-24,000 euro.

Further highlights in the modern photography section include an early print of a portrait of composer Paul Hindemith (estimate of 10,000-12,000 euro) by August Sander as well as works by Diane Arbus, Andreas Feininger, Horst P. Horst, Helen Levitt, Arnold Newman, Edward Steichen, Edmund Kesting, Sabine Weiss, Harry Callahan, Helen Levitt, Dorothy Norman, Alfred Ehrhardt, Barbara Morgan, Josef Sudek, Andre Kertesz, Édouard Boubat, Sasha Stone and Francesca Woodman, among others.

The top lot in the contemporary photography section is Hiroshi Sugimoto's Sea of Galilee, Golan (estimate of 24,000-26,000 euro) followed by a multi-part photo work by the Austrian artist Friederike Pezold entitled Mundwerk (estimate of 12,000-15,000 euro) and Bettina Rheims's Elizabeth Berkley (estimate of 10,000-15,000 euro).

In addition, works by Nobuyoshi Araki, Peter Beard, Annie Leibovitz, Helmut Newton, Thomas Ruff, Jörg Sasse, Wolfgang Tillmans, as well as an unusual portrait of Michael Jackson by Gottfried Helnwein (estimate of 5,000-7,000 euro) will be put up for auction.

Finally, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Fotografie Forum Frankfurt, Villa Grisebach is pleased to offer a selection of 14 photographs for sale in the section The Cabinet. The proceeds of this sale will benefit the Fotografie Forum Frankfurt. Among the works for auction is an image by the currently much discussed contemporary photographer Erwin Olaf (estimate of 5,000-7,000 euro).

The main auction preview will take place November 21-25, 2009 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 later in November at http://www.villa-grisebach.de/en/ .

The auction itself is scheduled for Thursday, November 26, 2009, 3 pm, which is Thanksgiving Day in the U.S.

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 .

 

Bassenge Photography Auctions is holding its final sale for the year on Dec. 2, 2009 in Berlin at 3 pm local time. The auction will offer 450 photography and photography book lots.

There is a wide selection of quality 19th-century material. An exceptionally rare and important daguerreotype from 1848 by the German photographer Carl Ferdinand Stelzner shows the freedom fighter Harro Harring in a dramatic pose (15,000 euro). Not only is the photographer one of the finest and earliest German daguerreotypists; the sitter's biography was connected to many important historical figures such as Garibaldi, Ypsilanti, C.D. Friedrich, Margaret Fuller and Alexander H. Everett. Several large-format Alinari Italian views--both albumen and salt prints--from the 1850s are moderately estimated between 500-900 euro.

Other 19th-century items include: selected ethnographic studies of natives of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia by Woodbury & Page (600-900 euro) as well as an early and rare four-part salt print panorama of Canton from 1863 by Dutton & Michaels (6000 euro), a five-part panoramic view of Shanghai, circa 1865 (1200 euro), an attractive album of hand-colored Japanese albumen prints (1500 euro), several salt prints (some also lightly albumenized) by James Robertson of mosques and people in Constantinople and circa 1854, as well as a very strong salt print by Robertson & Beato of the Fountain of the Court of Yeni Cami, circa 1854 (2200 euro). Also in the sale is an unusual 1857 still-life of three decorated guns by important and early Austrian photographer Andreas Groll.

Other 19th-century photographers with work on offer include: Edouard-Denis Baldus, Bisson frères, Disdéri, Maxime Du Camp, Francis Frith, Wilhelm von Gloeden, Wilhelm Hammerschmidt, Philippos Margaritis, Carl Friedrich Mylius, Carlo Naya, Guglielmo Plüschow, F.A. Rinehart, J. Pascal Sebah and P. Joaillier, Giorgio Sommer, and Baron Raimund von Stillfried.

Highlights of the 20th-century section include several vintage prints by Brassai from the 1930s (each about 3000-4000 euro), two unique life-size vintage nudograms by Floris M. Neusüss (each 10,000 euro) as well as smaller photograms by the same photographer (3000 euro). A separate section is devoted to early color photography including rare color slides of Paris under German occupation in 1940, interior views of the shows at the Folies Bergère, as well as Smolensk and Warsaw in 1941. Weegee's well-preserved vintage Three-eyed Cat (1800 euro) is a strange und unique image and a rare nude montage by W. Grancel Fitz (2600 euro) is equally unusual and appealing.

A unique mixed-media collage, "Begegnung!" 1934, by the Bauhaus artist Otto Hofmann, is estimated at 7500 euro. Several iconic images of the fotoform photographer Peter Keetman (1000-1800 euro) are also being offered. Joel Meyerowitz's vintage color print "McDonald's, St. Louis" (1978) is estimated at 3000 euro. Winter motifs include Martin Munkacsi 's vintage Ice Skaters, circa 1930 (7000 euro), Paul Outerbridge's "The Night Before Christmas" a vintage platinum print from1924 (9000 euro), and an anonymous early color print of Marilyn Monroe in red satin negligee deorated with a reindeer, which appeared in "Marilyn Monroe and the Camera".

Other important 20th-century photographers and subjects include: Ansel Adams, Rudolf Auer, Wilfried Bauer,Willi Baumeister, Max Baur, Herbert Bayer, Eva Besynö, Aenne Biermann, Ilse Bing, Günter Blum, Jan Bulhak, Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Lucien Clergue, Michel Comte, Imogen Cunningham, André de Dienes, D'Ora, Frantisek Drtikol, Harold Edgerton, Elliott Erwitt, Louis Faurer, Andreas Feininger, Arno Fischer,W. Grancel Fitz, Mario Giacomelli, Nan Goldin, Greg Gorman, Dan Graham, Philippe Halsman, Sam Haskins, Heinrich Heidersberger, George Hurrell, Graciela Iturbide, Lotte Jacobi, Karol Charles Kállay, Yousuf Karsh, André Kertész, Alexander Khlebnikov, Douglas Kirkland, Jürgen Klauke, Heinrich Koch, Rudolf Koppitz, Jan Lauschman, Lehenrt & Landrock, Herbert List, Manassé, Man Ray, Werner Mantz, Boris Mikhailov, Jean Moral, NASA, Detlef Orlopp, Heinz von Perckhammer, Eliot Porter, Len Prince, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Leni Riefenstahl, Albert Rudomine, Sebastiao Salgado, August Sander, Howard Schatz, Lawrence Schiller, Max Schirner,Toni Schneiders, Julius Shulman, Jeanloup Sieff, Aaron Siskind, Peter Stackpole, Anton Stankowski, André Steiner, Otto Steinert, Bert Stern, Louis Stettner, Dennis Stock, Alex Stöcker, Sasha Stone, Wolf Strache, Karl Struss, Jock Sturges, Josef Sudek, Antanas Sutkus, John Swannell, Karin Székessy, Herbert Tobias, Umbo, Josef Vorisek, Edward Weston, Ludwig Windstosser, Reinhart Wolf, Wols, X-ray photography, Yva and Willy Zielke.

Among the contemporary photographers in the sale are: Dieter Appelt, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Nan Goldin, Stefan Koppel kamm, Cathleen Naundorf, Bettina Rheims, Hans Martin Sewcz and Wim Wenders.

The photography books include: Dieter Appelt's "Monte Isola", Lewis Baltz's "Park City", Karl Blossfeldt's "Urformen der Kunst" and "Wunder der Natur", Germaine Krull's "Der Akt" and Duchenne de Boulogne's "Mecanisme de la Physionomie".

The auction is being held on Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009. "The 19th-century to contemporary photographs and photography books sale begins at 3 pm and will be held at Bassenge Photoauktionen, Erdenerstr. 5a, 14193 Berlin, tel.: +49 30 893 80 29 0; fax: + 49 30 891 8025; email: art@bassenge.com .

The auction previews will be held at Bassenge Photoauktionen, Rankestr. 24, 10789 Berlin, tel.: +49 30 219 97 277 from Nov. 23-Nov. 30, from 10 am-6 pm, and on Dec. 1, from 10 am-4 pm, as well as by appointment.

Jennifer Augustyniak is the Photographs Specialist. She can be reached by phone at: +49 (0)30 21 99 72 77; mobile: +49 (0)173 625 39 33; and fax: +49 (0)30 21 99 71 05; or by email at jennifer@bassenge.com . You can view the online version of the catalogue at: http://www.bassenge.com/bassenge/en/photo.asp ; just scroll down to the photograph auction catalogue at the bottom of this page.

 

Due to the recent heart attack suffered by Stephen Perloff, who is now recovering at home (see story below), The Photo Review Board has announced that the University of the Arts in Philadelphia was able to shift pre-existing events and room reservations around, so that The Photo Review Benefit Auction will now hold its preview on November 20th and 21st, and the auction on Saturday, November 21st at 7 pm in Solmssen Court in the Dorrance-Hamilton Building at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. This is the normal auction location, so only the dates are changing.

The guest auctioneer will be Jeffrey Fuller of Fuller’s Fine Art Auctions.

The event will feature an international slate of photographers, as well as a host of Philadelphia artists. Beginning and experienced collectors alike will have the opportunity to bid on work by such historic masters as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Edward S. Curtis, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Leonard Misonne, Gordon Parks, Man Ray, Herb Ritts, W. Eugene Smith, Edward Steichen, Josef Sudek, Eugène Atget, Barbara Morgan and Clarence H. White.

Among the contemporary photo stars whose work will go on the block are Michael Bishop, Marilyn Bridges, Carl Chiarenza, Lois Greenfield, Jefferson Hayman, Henry Horenstein, Michael Kenna, Mark Klett, Elaine Ling, Joe Mills, Jeffrey Milstein, Bill Owens, Catherine Steinmann, George Tice, James Fee, Jonathan Torgovnik, Philip Trager, and Joel-Peter Witkin, while featured local luminaries include Andrea Baldeck, Paul Cava, Paula Chamlee, Susan Fenton, Larry Fink, Judy Gelles, David Graham, Nancy Hellebrand, Catherine Jansen, D. W. Mellor, Ray K. Metzker, Andrea Modica, Wendy Paton, Laurence Salzmann, Michael A. Smith, Sarah Stolfa, Ron Tarver, Daniel Traub, Stephen G. Williams, and Stanley Wulc.

In addition, a broad range of 19th-century photographs is up for bid, including work by Lewis Morris Rutherfurd, Édouard Baldus and Henry Dixon, as well as anonymous work including a wonderful large painted salt print of a woman in the original 1850s frame. According to Photo Review editor Stephen Perloff, prices will range from $50 to $8,000.

A silent auction, concurrent with the live auction, will feature photography and computer equipment and software, film and paper, restaurant meals, museum memberships, theater tickets, photography books, etc.

A preview will be held at the Dorrance-Hamilton Building on Friday, November 20 from 11 am to 5 pm, and on Saturday, November 21 from 11 am to 6 pm, just prior to the auction at 7 pm. Proceeds from the auction, a popular event since 1983, fund such activities as an annual juried competition for emerging photographers. Admission is free with purchase of the fully illustrated catalog, available through The Photo Review at 1-215-891-0214. Buyers may preview the auction now on-line, and place bids at http://www.photoreview.org/auction.htm .

A fully illustrated catalogue is available for $12 from The Photo Review, 140 East Richardson Avenue, Suite 301, Langhorne, PA 19047-2824. Credit cards can also be accepted by phone.

The office contact information is: phone: 1-215-891-0214; fax: 1-215-891-9358; email: info@photoreview.org, or auction@photoreview.org ; website: http://www.photoreview.org .

 

Roy DeCarava, a powerful and independent voice for African-American photography, passed away on October 27th in Manhattan. He had been living in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn and was just two months shy of his 90th birthday.

DeCarava was born in Harlem on December 9, 1919 to Elfreda Ferguson, a Jamaican immigrant, who separated from his father Andrew DeCarava shortly after his birth. An only child, he attended New York City's Textile High School both at the school's Harlem annex and at the main school on 18th Street in Manhattan. After high school in 1938 he worked as a sign painter with the Works Project Administration to help pay the bills. With the help of a scholarship, he studied architecture and sculpture at the Cooper Union from1938-40, and then painting and printmaking at the Harlem Art Center from 1940-42 and drawing and painting at George Washington Carver Art School from 1944-45. He considered himself first and foremost an artist, and this emphasis carried over later into his photography.

After a stint in WWII as an army topographical draftsman and getting a medical leave, DeCarava came back to Harlem, earning a living by working as a commercial artist and illustrator, but also exhibiting his first silkscreen prints at a New York gallery in 1947.

DeCarava began to photograph Harlem's environs in 1946 at first to reproduce street imagery that he wanted to paint. But he quickly became so involved in the photography and Harlem's street life that he soon abandoned painting, sculpture and printmaking altogether.

His first photography exhibit was held at the Forty-Fourth Street Gallery in 1950. The gallery's owner, a fellow photographer, taught DeCarava about darkroom technique.

DeCarava later met with Edward Steichen, then curator of photography at New York's Museum of Modern Art. It was Steichen who suggested that DeCarava apply for a Guggenheim fellowship, and in 1952, he became the first African-American photographer ever to win one and the $3,200 grant that was to give him the freedom of photographing Harlem. In his application, he wrote that he hoped "to show the strength, the wisdom, the dignity of the Negro people. Not the famous and the well known, but the unknown and the unnamed, thus revealing the roots from which spring the greatness of all human beings." The images that resulted from this work were published in the 1955 book "The Sweet Flypaper of Life" with text by Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes.

Steichen would later include several of DeCarava's Harlem images in the landmark exhibition and book, "The Family of Man".

Besides his images of everyday life in Harlem, DeCarava perhaps became even better known for his photographs of many Jazz greats, such as Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Coleman Hawkins and Miles Davis.

DeCarava was not without his controversies though. Subject to racial discrimination most of his life, DeCarava worked actively for the civil rights movement, not only photographing such events, but also as an active participant. He chaired the American Society of Magazine Photographers' Committee to End Discrimination Against Black Photographers. In that position, he became a leader in many rights efforts, such as the protest against Life magazine which demanded that the publication add black photographers to its staff. Gordon Parks, the only black photographer at Life during that time in the 1960s, refused to join the protest, and apparently DeCarava never forgave him.

DeCarava's first important solo museum exhibition did not come until 1969 when the Studio Museum in Harlem showed his photography. In 1996 New York's Museum of Modern Art honored him with a major retrospective and the nearly 200-image show toured several U.S. cities. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2006 for his work.

 

Jocelyn Phillips has been appointed head of Bonhams new photographic department to be based in London.

A Cambridge Classics graduate she also has an MA in Cultural Heritage Studies from University College London (Institute of Archeology). The thesis for her Masters degree was on 19th-century photography and classical art, which was her introduction to the world of photographs.

Jocelyn joined Sotheby's Photographic Department in 2004 and by 2006 was acting head of department. In 2008 she was promoted to deputy director at Sotheby's. During her time there, in addition to the twice yearly various owner sales, she worked on the single-owner collection of Dr. William Ehrenfeld (19th-century photographs of India) in May 2005 and the prestigious final installment of the Collection Marie-Thérèse et André Jammes (part IV, held in Paris in November 2008).

This year she has been a nominator for the Prix Pictet (photographic prize for sustainability established last year by Pictet Bank in conjunction with the Financial Times. Earlier this year she made a presentation on the auction market for photographs at the Foam Museum in Amsterdam as part of the Foam Editions Collecting Photography program.

Matthew Girling, Bonhams European and Middle East CEO comments: "We are delighted to have Jocelyn join us to head up this exciting new development, a stand alone photographic department, which will help Bonhams to service the huge and growing interest in collecting photography."

 

Editor/Publisher of the Photo Review and the Photograph Collector Newsletter STEPHEN PERLOFF has suffered a heart attack and underwent successful surgery at St. Mary's Hospital to put in a stent. He is now at home in Langhorne, PA recuperating. Also see the related article on the date change for the Photo Review's charity auction, originally scheduled on Nov. 7th, which will now be held on Nov. 21st

MARY SOLOMON, West Coast art consultant (Solomon Fine Art), former photo dealer and collector, has been at the UC Irvine Medical Center Hospital for the H1N1 flu complicated by pneumonia. She is now resting at home and doing better.

We wish them both a speedy and safe recovery.