MESMERIZING VISUALS
Online Auction For AIPAD
The Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc across the globe, devastating lives and crippling economies and businesses. Like everything, the art world ground to a halt. Museums and galleries closed, exhibitions put on hold, and art fairs postponed. The revenue loss is tremendous, and the long-term effect this crisis will have on the art market is yet to be determined. Those in art have embraced virtual platforms, allowing visitors, collectors, and dealers to access art without the traditional in-person experience.
Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD) recently announced a collaboration with Sotheby’s for a new online auction, Four Decades: In Celebration of AIPAD. “Like everybody in the art world, businesses and art fair organizers are trying to find a way to sustain business during the pandemic and the impossibility of the large gatherings,” said Richard Moore, president of AIPAD, “so one idea we had was to do an auction that would benefit the individual galleries.”
More than 50% of AIPAD’s members have consigned photographs to the auction. Emily Bierman, Head of Sotheby’s Photographs, recognized the strain of the canceled New York City landmark fair on the photo community and the need to provide a platform, “I think that we’ve all wanted to come together and have the opportunity to offer something that is not the same as the fair, but slightly different, our own version of working together to present work by many of these top galleries from around the world, long associated with AIPAD or newer members, and present works that are both established in the market and maybe fresh and new that you might not have seen before. That’s the joy of going both to an auction and going to a fair, is the element of discovery and education.”
The carefully curated auction will represent work including 19th-century, modern and contemporary photographs. The works are by established photographers, including William Henry Fox Talbot, Edward Weston, Dorothea Lange, Sigmar Polke, Robert Frank, and Roger Ballen, plus pieces by artists making their debut. The range in value starts as low as $500, with Robert Frank’s and William Henry Fox Talbot’s images expected to sell for as high as $60,000. The majority are in the $10,000 and under category and Bierman says, “Within the photo, photography collecting field, I think we would all say that it is still an incredibly accessible market and there is really great opportunity to build a collection, photograph by photograph, by learning about what you love, seeing it, acquiring it and living with it, and you can still do that. You can still really do that at a relatively accessible price point.”
New York City gallery owner and AIPAD member Keith De Lellis says the upcoming auction “is a good opportunity to align the organization with the Sotheby’s brand, one of the world’s great auction houses. Since we are unable to hold our annual photography fair this past year, it helps to keep AIPAD relevant during this temporary freeze on large gatherings.” For the auction, De Lellis has consigned the 60″ x40″ Muhammad Ali Underwater by Flip Schulke. “People love it and it has become increasingly desirable,” said De Lellis, “I expect it will sell for between $12,000 and $15,000, but who knows in this heated environment. People are eager to buy art at this moment because they are spending more time at home and want pictures that they enjoy seeing hanging on their walls.”
Four Decades: In Celebration of AIPAD will be presented by Sotheby’s from December 15-21, 2020.
