Asher Kelman
OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
It's one thing for a gallery to convince a list of closely-groomed "followers" of the value of a photograph and it's another to wait for the free market to confirm or dash the price of that art in an open sale.
Recently, some important classical photographs went on sale at Sotheby's and broke the record books!
Edward Weston: Charis,
Santa Monica, 1936
Courtesy Sotheby's
Estimate 200,000 — 300,000 USD
LOT SOLD. 653,000 USD
(Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium)
These are special works and although the prices are stratospheric, likely means that the market for fine photography is very healthy and secure. No one can make an original Julia Cameron or Edward Weston and they deserve their place in history.
Ironic at a time when professional wedding photographers are outbid by guys with a Canon Rebel and Newspapers lay off their staff photographers!
Asher
Recently, some important classical photographs went on sale at Sotheby's and broke the record books!
Edward Weston: Charis,
Santa Monica, 1936
Courtesy Sotheby's
Estimate 200,000 — 300,000 USD
LOT SOLD. 653,000 USD
(Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium)
"The single-owner sale “175 Masterworks To Celebrate 175 Years of Photography: Property from Joy of Giving Something Foundation" held at Sotheby's New York on December 11 and 12, broke the world record for a photography auction. It was drawn from a collection gathered by the late American financier Howard Stein, who started Joy of Giving Something, Inc. in 1999.
The auction grossed $21,325,063, beating its presale estimate of $13–20 million, and greatly surpassing the previous record, set in 2006 by a Sotheby's sale of photographs from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which made a total $15 million. Last week's sale boasted a solid sell-through rate of 90.3 percent by lot and 94.9 percent by value.
“175 Masterworks" also set a slew of artist's records. The top lot, an impressionistic view of Venice by Alvin Langdon Coburn (Shadows and Reflections, Venice, 1905) fetched a staggering $965,000, nearly doubling its high presale estimate of $500,000. Another notable record was for August Sander, whose Handlanger sold for $749,000 (presale estimate: $350,000-500,000). According to the artnet Price Database, Sander's previous record was set in 2008, also at Sotheby's New York, with the sale of Werkstudenten for $493,000.
Female photographers fared particularly well. Tina Modotti's Workers' Parade (1927) hammered at $485,000, well above its $300,000 high estimate, which set a new record for the artist. Julia Margaret Cameron's No. 5 of series of twelve lifesized heads (Kate Keown) sold for $461,000, almost doubling the artist's previous record, established last year with The Val Prinsep Album, a piece which gathered 32 photographs. Lee Miller's Untitled (Iron work) (1931) fetched $377,000, also a new record. The sale marks a significant jump for Miller, whose previous record was set in 2012 with Condom, which sold for $230,500 at Sotheby's New York." Source
The auction grossed $21,325,063, beating its presale estimate of $13–20 million, and greatly surpassing the previous record, set in 2006 by a Sotheby's sale of photographs from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which made a total $15 million. Last week's sale boasted a solid sell-through rate of 90.3 percent by lot and 94.9 percent by value.
“175 Masterworks" also set a slew of artist's records. The top lot, an impressionistic view of Venice by Alvin Langdon Coburn (Shadows and Reflections, Venice, 1905) fetched a staggering $965,000, nearly doubling its high presale estimate of $500,000. Another notable record was for August Sander, whose Handlanger sold for $749,000 (presale estimate: $350,000-500,000). According to the artnet Price Database, Sander's previous record was set in 2008, also at Sotheby's New York, with the sale of Werkstudenten for $493,000.
Female photographers fared particularly well. Tina Modotti's Workers' Parade (1927) hammered at $485,000, well above its $300,000 high estimate, which set a new record for the artist. Julia Margaret Cameron's No. 5 of series of twelve lifesized heads (Kate Keown) sold for $461,000, almost doubling the artist's previous record, established last year with The Val Prinsep Album, a piece which gathered 32 photographs. Lee Miller's Untitled (Iron work) (1931) fetched $377,000, also a new record. The sale marks a significant jump for Miller, whose previous record was set in 2012 with Condom, which sold for $230,500 at Sotheby's New York." Source
These are special works and although the prices are stratospheric, likely means that the market for fine photography is very healthy and secure. No one can make an original Julia Cameron or Edward Weston and they deserve their place in history.
Ironic at a time when professional wedding photographers are outbid by guys with a Canon Rebel and Newspapers lay off their staff photographers!
Asher
