Christie's October Photographs Sale to Offer Landmark Works by the Masters of the Medium

NEW YORK, NY.- On October 6 and 7, Christie’s New York will offer a broad range of photographs from the early 20th century to the present day. Highlights include important photographs, from many private collections including The Estate of Harry Lunn, Bruce and Nancy Berman; and Harvey Shipley Miller and Randall Plummer. Artists such as Diane Arbus, Ansel Adams, Man Ray, Irving Penn, William Eggleston and Lise Sarfati will be featured prominently. The sale comprises 349 lots and is expected to realize from $4.5 million to $6.8 million.

Highlights include Grand Tetons and the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, 1942, (estimate: $150,000-250,000), one of Ansel Adam’s most recognizable and extraordinarily beautiful works. The work is one of nine mural prints of this image in existence and one of six in this size. This rare example was printed in the early 1960s.

Ansel Adams (1902-1984) Grand Tetons and the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, 1942; gelatin silver print, printed 1960s, flush-mounted on wood, 30 5/8 x 45 1/8in. (77.8 x 114.5cm.). Estimate $150,000 - $250,000. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2010.

Provenance: A Private Collection;
Christie's, New York, May 16, 1980, lot 999

Literature: Ansel Adams: 400 Photographs, Little, Brown and Company, p. 205

Notes: According to current research, this is one of nine mural prints of this image in existence and one of only six in this size, with print dates ranging from 1952 to 1973. This magnificent, extraordinarily rare example was probably printed in the early 1960s.

Gracing the catalogue’s back cover is Man Ray’s Nude with Shadow (solarized), 1927 (estimate: $70,000-90,000). This vintage print by Man Ray is of an exceptional quality not seen at auction in several years.

Man Ray (1890-1976) Nude with Shadow (solarized), 1927 ; solarized gelatin silver print , annotated 'Original', 'Page 33' by the artist, annotation 'Anatomies' in pencil, credit and collection stamps (on the verso), 11¼ x 9in. (29 x 23.3cm.). Estimate $70,000-90,000. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2010. 

Provenance: From the collection of Marcel Natkin

Literature: Man Ray: Photographies 1920-1934 Paris, James Thrall Soby Cahiers d'Art, 1934, p. 33; Natkin, Photography of the Nude, Fountain Press, 1937, pl. 19; Van de Velde, Man Ray 1890-1976, Abrams, 1995, p. 46, cat. no. 138

Notes: The collection stamp on the back of this print indicates that it was at one time most likely in the collection of Marcel Natkin who wrote several books on the art and technique of photography in the 1930s. He included this image in a chapter titled "'Stylised Nudity' Man Ray" in his 1937 book, Photography of the Nude. This print is identical in size, tonality and texture to the print, currently in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, that belonged to James Thrall Soby and was reproduced in Man Ray's monograph published by Soby in 1934. Apparently these two prints were made at the same time on the same paper. The MoMA

Diane Arbus’ Identical Twins, 1967 (estimate: $250,000-350,000), is an important example of the artist’s unmistakable style and vision.

Diane Arbus (1923-1971) , Identical Twins, Roselle, New Jersey, 1967; gelatin silver print, stamped 'a diane arbus print', signed, numbered '4349-14-OAU-1620', Estate copyright, by Doon Arbus, Administrator, in ink and Estate copyright credit reproduction limitation stamps (on the verso), 14½ x 12½in. (36.8 x 31.6cm.). Estimate $250,000 - $350,000. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2010.   

Provenance: From the artist;
to Dr. Helen W. Boigon, New York

Literature: Diane Arbus, Aperture, 1972, cover and n.p.; Diane Arbus Revelations, Random House, 2003, p. 265

Notes: This print was a gift from Arbus to her psychiatrist, Dr. Helen Boigon, during their consultations in 1969.

The sale will offer a substantial 23 works by renowned photographer Irving Penn, including Mouth (New York), 1986 (estimate: $100,000-150,000). Typical of much of Penn’s most salient works, Mouth balances the glamour of fashion and the shock of art.

Irving Penn (1917-2009), Mouth (New York), 1986; dye-transfer print, printed 1992, signed, initialed, titled, dated, numbered '16833' in ink, copyright credit reproduction limitation and edition stamps (on the verso); one of an edition of 28, 18¾ x 18 3/8in. (47.5 x 46.5cm.). Estimate $100,000 - $150,000. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2010.

Literature: Penn, Passage: A Work Record, Knopf Callaway, 1991, p. 261; Westerbeck, ed., Irving Penn: A Career in Photography, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1997, p. 86, pl. 37, cat. no. 136

Christie’s is delighted to present a selection of photographs from The Estate of Harry Lunn as part of the sale. Lunn’s gallery in Washington D.C. was only the second establishment in the United States to be entirely devoted to photography. Over the course of his expansive career, he created markets for a formidable list of artists, including: Ansel Adams, Diane Arbus, Walker Evans and Robert Frank, as well as promoting the work of more controversial contemporary photographers, such as William Eggleston, Robert Mapplethorpe, Andres Serrano and Joel-Peter Witkin.

Among the selection from The Estate of Harry Lunn is a an extraordinarily rare chromogenic print by William Eggleston named En route to New Orleans, c. 1971-1974 (estimate: $15,000-25,000).

William Eggleston (B. 1939) , En route to New Orleans, c. 1971-1974, chromogenic print , signed in ink (on the verso), 15 x 10¼in. (38 x 26cm.). Estimate $15,000 - $25,000. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2010.

THE ESTATE OF HARRY LUNN: Harry Lunn was born in Detroit in 1933. After working for a time for the C.I.A., he opened a fine art gallery in Washington D.C. in 1968. An encounter with the work of Ansel Adams two years later prompted him to switch his collecting focus to photographs and the Lunn Gallery became only the second establishment in the United States - after the Witkin Gallery in Manhattan - to be entirely devoted to the medium. He created markets for a formidable list of artists, including Ansel Adams, Diane Arbus, Walker Evans and Robert Frank, as well as promoting the work of more controversial contemporary photographers, such as William Eggleston, Robert Mapplethorpe, Andres Serrano and Joel-Peter Witkin. A respected elder statesman of the trade and a distinct character, Harry Lunn was a welcome and frequent visitor to Christie's salerooms through the years. We are, therefore, delighted to have an opportunity of presenting a selection of photographs from his Estate.

Literature: William Eggleston, Thames & Hudson, 2002, pl. 90; William Eggleston: Los Alamos, Scalo, 2003, p. 99; Sussman and Weski, William Eggleston: Democratic Camera, Whitney Museum of American Art Yale University Press, 2008, p. 101, pl. 43

This sale also incorporates a number of works that illustrate New York City throughout the past 100 years, including two photographs from Joel Sternfeld, depicting the Highline before its recent overhaul: A Spring Evening, the Hudson, May 2001 (estimate: $8,000-12,000) and A Railroad Artifact, 30th Street, May 2000 (estimate: $8,000-12,000). Additional works include: Berenice Abbott’s El at Columbus Avenue and Broadway, Lincoln Square, N.Y., 1929 (estimate: $6,000-8,000) and Edward Pfizenmaier’s Wollman Rink, Central Park, New York, 1954 (estimate: $5,000-7,000).

There are two noteworthy works by Albert Sands Southworth and Josiah Hawes from the Harvey Shipley Miller and Randall Plummer Collection of Photographs. The first is a mammoth albumen print from a daguerreotype original of Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw, circa 1870 (estimate: $8,000-12,000). The other is a half-plate daguerreotype George Washington, after Gilbert Stuart, 1853 (estimate: $10,000-15,000). This selection of 49 lots from the Miller-Plummer Collection of Photographs follows the successful Christie’s 2009 single-owner sale from the same distinguished collection.

Finally Lise Sarfati’s Suzannah #23, Hillsboro OR, 2003 (estimate: $3,000-5,000) is the sale’s cover lot. This photo demonstrates the artist’s ability to capture the essence of dreamy adolescence.

Lise Sarfati (B. 1958) , Suzannah #23, Hillsboro OR, 2003, chromogenic print, signed, titled, dated, and numbered '8/10' in ink on a label affixed (on the verso) and (on the frame backing), 10 x 15in. (25.4 x 38.5).Estimate $3,000 - $5,000.  Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2010.

Provenance: With Rose Gallery, Santa Monica

Literature: Sarfati, The New Life, Twin Palms, 2005, pl. 13

Christie’s various owners photographs sale is one auction in a dynamic photographs season including A Historic Photographic Grand Tour: Important Daguerreotypes by Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey, a sale featuring 74 daguerreotype photographs, hails from a private collection at Christie’s New York on October 7 and the November 20 auction Avedon: Photographs from the Richard Avedon Foundation, which will offer 65 works from the famed photographer at Christie’s Paris.