For much of the past year, in my rounds through gallery shows and art fairs, I have anecdotally heard rumbles about slowing demand for photography, about much of photography being “out” at the moment, and other muted tales of woe, but without looking at the private sales books of gallery owners, it’s difficult to get a feel for just how much of a slowdown was actually occurring, and whether it was driven by broad economic malaise or something more intrinsic to the medium. And as the year passed, in tracking the auction data from sale to sale, I had an ... Read more at Collector Daily.

JTF (just the facts): A total of 115 black-and-white photographs, framed in white and matted, and hung against white/grey walls in 4 connected rooms on the first floor of the gallery, and 3 connected rooms on the second floor. The following works are included in the show: Floor 1/Room 1 11 gelatin silver prints, 1956/later, 1963/later, 1965/later, 1966/later, 1967/later, 1968/later, 1969/later, 1970/later, 1970-1971/later (by Selkirk), sized roughly 9×6, 14×14, 14×15, 15×15 inches, in editions of 75 7 gelatin silver prints, 1956/1956-1958, 1958/1958-1960, 1960, 1965/1965-1967, 1965/1969-1971 1968/1968-1970 (by Arbus), sized roughly 9×7, 10×6, 10×10, 13×12, 15×16 inches Floor 1/Room 2 11 ... Read more at Collector Daily.

Drawn from the collection of actor Richard Gere, there were more unexpected photographic rarities on offer at this single collector sale at Christie’s last week than in most online sales. A powerhouse František Drtikol nude from 1926 took the top lot honors (at roughly $350K), and with an overall Buy-In rate under 25% and a number of positive surprises, the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $2.4M) generally met expectations, coming in squarely in the middle of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.... Read more at Collector Daily.

Photography NFTs continued their cross-over into the traditional auction world at Christie’s online Photographs sale last week. A set of 12 NFTs from Quantum Art’s Season One took the top lot honors (at roughly $160K), with work by Kris Graves, Julie Blackmon, Mona Kuhn and others. The rest of the sale generally performed to expectations, with softness across the board showing up in an overall Buy-In rate over 30%. A number of positive surprises helped to balance the load, but when the dust settled, the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $1.3M) came in just below the low end of the ... Read more at Collector Daily.

JTF (just the facts): A group show containing a total of 60 photographs and photobooks by 34 artists, variously framed and matted, and hung against white and yellow walls in a series of rooms on the second floor of the museum. All of the works on view are recent acquisitions/gifts or part of the museum’s permanent collection. The following works are included in the show: Roger Mayne: 1 gelatin silver print, 1956 Saul Steinberg: 1 gelatin silver print with applied media, 1950 John Cohen: 1 gelatin silver print, 1959 Don McCullin: 1 gelatin silver print, 1965 Walker Evans: 1 gelatin ... Read more at Collector Daily.

The results from the single collector sale of photographs at Philips last week were solid. The overall Buy-In rate for the sale was a respectable 15%, and punctuated by a new auction record for Peter Hujar, the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $1M) came in just under the top end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.... Read more at Collector Daily.

The results from the recent online sale of photographs at Christie’s drawn from the collection of W.M. Hunt were quite uneven, but given the eclectic nature of the material, that might have been expected. All of the images on offer last week had the eyes of the sitter covered or obscured in one way or another, leading to a broadly thoughtful collection (and 2011 catalog) called The Unseen Eye (the sale represented just part of the collection). And while the Buy-In rate for the auction was solid (at roughly 16%), more than half the lots that sold did so beneath ... Read more at Collector Daily.

The photographs in the recent Classic Photographs sale at Sotheby’s in New York largely performed to expectations. As a group, the lots in the top price tier sold well, and a Francesca Woodman print soared to $200K. With a Buy-In rate of a third, the Total Sale Proceeds came in at a respectable $2.4M, above the low end of aggregate pre-sale estimate range. To compare totals with the other auction houses, this tally should be added to the $1.9M of results from Sotheby’s Contemporary Photographs sale (results here) which took place earlier in the season.... Read more at Collector Daily.

Helmut Newton’s Sie Kommen, Paris (Dressed and Naked) diptych was the top lot at Phillips recent various owner Photographs auction, and its sale at $1820000 was not only a positive surprise (given its pre-sale estimate of $600000-800000), it also effectively pulled the sale up on its back and carried it home. The rest of the auction generally performed to expectations, with a Buy-In rate at just under 25%. When the dust settled, the Total Sale Proceeds tallied up at just over $5M, a notch above the top end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.... Read more at Collector Daily.