Preview of the photos in the upcoming New York sales

After September’s planning preparations, auction sales will resume in October with, among others, a round of New York sales dedicated to photography. For these sales, the two market leaders, Christie’s and Sotheby’s, have adopted very different strategies with the former offering 42 carefully selected lots at the Rockefeller Plaza on October 5, and the latter organizing a lengthy session with more than 220 lots on October 7. Here are some of the photographs that will be auctioned.

Rare pictures at Christie’s

Christie’s star lot is an Ansel Easton ADAMS photo entitled Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park, estimated at $300,000 to $500,000. However the price could climb even higher as five years ago an identical print of the same photo was offered in the same estimation range, but finally sold for $722,500 including fees.
Another star lot at Christie’s is a MAN RAY self-portrait (1932) estimated $200,000 to $300,000, twice as much as a larger framed self-portrait which fetched $157,000 at Christie’s (including fees) in 2007. In fact, the 2007 print was more attractive with the camera in the field… but the market has evolved: eight years have passed and Man Ray’s photographs now fetch 7-digit results.
On the cover of the Christie’s catalog is a photograph of the Rockefeller Center by Edward STEICHEN (1879-1973) that was worth $32,200 in 1999. Christie’s is now expecting at least $225,000. Other photographs in the catalog estimated above $100,000 are works by Edward Weston, William Eggleston, Irvin Penn, Iroshi Sugimoto, Karl Struss, Bern, Berndt and Hilla Becher.

Diane Arbus and Desiree Dolron at the same price?

Among the gems in the Christie’s sale, Diane ARBUS’s Jewish giant leaning over his normal-sized parents, cramped into his normal-sized family home in the Bronx (A Jewish giant at home with his parents in the Bronx, 1970). The print was made a few months after the photographer’s death in an edition of 50 copies and is being offered with a low estimate of $60,000… relatively cheap considering that some editions fetched more than $300,000 in 2004 and 2007. This one is a few centimeters smaller but is in perfect condition and we would expect it to elicit strong bidding.
In the Contemporary category, Desirée DOLRON is represented by her best-known picture, Xteriors II, a work with light that evokes the paintings of the great Dutch Masters. Xteriors II is carrying an attractive estimate of 60,000 – $80,000, although the work has fetched more than $100,000 in the past (almost $130,000 including fees at Phillips de Pury & Company, New York, 2007).

Sugimoto and Mapplethorpe at Sotheby’s

Two days later, Sotheby’s will be selling a much larger selection with works by Alfred Stieglitz, Bill Brandt, Diane Arbus, Henri Cartier-Bresson, André Kertesz and Dorothea Lange, among many others. The star lots of the October 7 sale are three views of the Baltic Sea by Hiroshi SUGIMOTO (carrying an estimate of $100,000 – $200,000 for the set) and Man in a polyester suit by Robert MAPPLETHORPE, a controversial portrait of a suited man with his penis exposed, but his head out of the frame. This exceptional print (1/15 copies) should generate one of the artist’s top-three results, in excess of $250,000.

A budget of $10,000?

How many works in the Sotheby’s sale are accessible to a budget of $10,000? The answer is 60, including some superb photographs by Sally MANN from her Deep South series, the famous portrait of Andy Warhol in a black leather jacket by Richard AVEDON (a particularly rare photo on the secondary market), a stag surprised in its environment by Peter BEARD (Aberdare Moorlands), Shirin NESHAT’s I am its secret (from an edition of 250), a nude taken by Vanessa BEECROFT and another by Lucien CLERGUE, and a plump prostitute in the Italian district Italy by BRASSAÏ… In fact, the wide choice coupled with the strong signatures suggest an excellent start for the photography market this year.