SOTHEBY’S CELEBRATES
Ansel Adams, Irving Penn, Peter Lindbergh, Richard Avedon +
This month Sotheby’s Photographs department will celebrate its Golden Jubilee with an auction of fifty iconic images by some of the medium’s most influential artists. The auction will showcase works that span nearly 200 years of global photographic history, including 19th-century practitioners, pioneering women artists, post-war, fashion, and contemporary photographs. Emily Bierman, Sotheby’s Head of Photographs in New York, took out time to discuss the upcoming auction’s importance.
What criteria did you use in selecting the fifty images to celebrate Sotheby’s Golden Jubilee?
Emily Bierman: Each of the fifty photographs had to demonstrate significant achievement in the medium’s history. As we reflected on the last 50 years of auctions at Sotheby’s, we sought to curate a two-part sale series that would both reflect our traditional past and also represent where we are today. We did this by showcasing the best and the full spectrum of the medium, from the historical collection of 1840s salt prints by William Henry Fox Talbot to Chris Levine’s iconic portrait of the Queen – a gelatin silver print with hand-applied micro crystals that genuinely blurs the line between photography and contemporary art. We also did this by executing the sales online, the preferred platform of today’s truly global collecting community.
Can you talk about the scope of photographers represented in the auction?
EB: Nearly 200 years of the history of photography are represented within this auction. It’s a veritable who’s who of the artists most associated with the medium’s history, from William Henry Fox Talbot to Gustave Le Gray to Ansel Adams to Edward Weston to William Eggleston to Thomas Struth. Women photographers are featured prominently, including Anne Brigman, Hansel Mieth, Lee Miller, Margaret Bourke-White, and Cindy Sherman.
Which photographs do you expect will bring in the highest bids?
EB: Ah, to have a crystal ball! With estimates ranging from $10,000 to $700,000, there is a photograph for everyone in this sale. Within the photographs field, you can still put together a collection of masterworks at every price point.
What are your expectations for this auction?
EB: In any given season, we would be lucky to handle one, two, maybe three of these photographs. We have been lusting for many years after several of the photographs, including the platinum print of Irving Penn’s Harlequin Dress and the early print of Ansel Adams’s iconic Moonrise, Hernandez, NM. My colleagues and I feel incredibly lucky to present such a strong selection of photographs that will appeal to both seasoned collectors as well as those completely new to the market, drawn in by the opportunity to own true icons.
What kind of changes have you seen in the medium of photography and its place in the art world?
EB: Fifty years ago, the Photographs market was radically different. There were very few galleries specializing in photography, let alone art advisors. A reliable auction market didn’t yet exist, and you were just as likely to find photographs in the context of a books auction. Only a handful of museums were collecting or exhibiting photographs. Fast forward 50 years and photography is thriving! With approximately one-third of our bidders and buyers new to us in 2020, this is a market of growth and opportunity.
* Sotheby’s auction opens for bidding April 12th through April 22nd.
