Bloomsbury made its entry into the New York Photographs market last fall with its debut sale, and has returned with a small but sensible sophomore effort this spring. There are a total of 140 lots in this sale (93 lots of photographs and 47 of books and editions) with a total high estimate of $832200. Given Bloomsbury’s overall strength in books, I imagine photo books will gain more and more focus at this house over time. (Catalogue cover at right.)
Here’s the breakdown (grouping photographs and books together):
Total Low lots (high estimate $10000 or lower): 132
Total Low estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): $695200
Total Mid lots (high estimate between $10000 and $50000): 8
Total Mid estimate: $137000
Total Mid estimate: $137000
Total High lots (high estimate over $50000): 0
Total High estimate: NA
Total High estimate: NA
While there aren’t any major masterpieces in this sale (as evidenced by the small number of Mid and High estimated lots), the highlights include a small group of abstractions and still lifes (lots 40-47) from the New Bauhaus, which were an unexpected and welcome surprise. For our specific collection, I liked the Rudolph Koppitz Hand Studie, from 1920, best (lot 5, at right), as it would fit well with other nudes we own.The lot by lot catalogue can be found here. There is also fancier version that looks and acts like a catalogue (“3D View”) rather than a web page.
Photographs and Photographic Editions
April 2, 2009
April 2, 2009
6 West 48th Street
New York, NY 10036
