Christie’s has broken up its various owner Photographs sale into two parts this fall, with an Evening sale featuring most of the high priced lots next Monday, followed by a broader sale the next day. Taken together, there’s meaningfully more photographic value on offer here than there was at Christie’s equivalent various owner auction earlier this spring, and there’s more estimated value available than in the sales of at its competitors. An Ansel Adams mural-sized print and an Irving Penn still life share the headlining spotlight. Overall, there are a total of 217 lots available across the two sales, with a Total High Estimate of $7833500.
Here’s the statistical breakdown:
| Preview Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including $10000) | 64 |
| Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of low lots) | $431500 |
| Total Mid Lots (high estimate between $10000 and $50000) | 116 |
| Total Mid Estimate | $3037000 |
| Total High Lots (high estimate above $50000) | 37 |
| Total High Estimate | $4365000 |
The top lot by High estimate is tied between two lots: lot 33, Ansel Adams, Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park, c1940/c1962-1963, and lot 34, Irving Penn, Ginko Leaves, New York, 1990/1992, (image above, via Christie’s), both estimated at $300000-500000.
Here’s the complete list of photographers with five or more lots in the sales, along with the number of lots on offer:
| Multiple Lots For Sale | |
|---|---|
| Robert Mapplethorpe | 8 |
| Edward Weston | 8 |
| Henri Cartier-Bresson | 7 |
| Harry Callahan | 6 |
| Paul Strand | 6 |
| Hiroshi Sugimoto | 6 |
| Ansel Adams | 5 |
| Irving Penn | 5 |
Other lots of interest include (images above, via Christie’s):
Lot 6, William Eggleston, Untitled (Greenwood, Mississippi), 1973/1980, estimated at $180000-220000
Lot 17, Edward Steichen, Rockefeller Center, 1932, estimated at $225000-275000
Lot 28, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Mineheads, 1971-1978, estimated at $80000-120000
Lot 29, Karl Struss, Man’s Construction, 1912, estimated at $90000-120000
Lot 121, Anna Atkins, Anthriscus Sylvestria, 1854, estimated at $25000-35000
Lot 135, Erwin Blumenfeld, Self-Portrait, New York, 1945, estimated at $70000-100000
Lot 170, Brett Weston, Rock Forms, California, 1952, estimated at $12000-18000
Lot 266, Asako Narahashi, Kawaguchiko #2, 2003, estimated at $4000-6000
Lot 272, Emmet Gowin, Mining Exploration, Near Silver City, Nevada, 1988/1998, estimated at $3000-5000
The complete lot by lot catalogs can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).
