Auction Preview: Vernacular Imagery, Photobooks, & Fine Photographs, December 11, 2014 @Swann

Swann’s end of the year sale combines three separate genres into one broad auction – vernacular imagery, photobooks, and fine art photographs. The first two make up the first 288 lots of the sale, showing Swann’s dedication to continuing to develop these areas where it has created some new collecting interest and excitement.

The final section brings together the more standard photographs and is led by an unexpectedly large number of portfolios – Abbott, Vishniac, Strand, Uelsmann, Morris, Shore, Erwitt, and others are among the groups of images on offer. Overall, there are a total of 243 photography lots available (not including the vernacular images and photobooks), with a Total High Estimate of $1255750.

Here’s the statistical breakdown:

Preview Statistics
Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including $10000) 230
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of low lots) $995750
Total Mid Lots (high estimate between $10000 and $50000) 13
Total Mid Estimate $260000
Total High Lots (high estimate above $50000) 0
Total High Estimate $0

The top lot by High estimate is lot 384, Berenice Abbott, Images from Retrospective Portfolio, 1930-1960/1982, estimated at $30000-45000.

Here’s the complete list of photographers with five or more lots in the sale, along with the number of lots on offer:

Multiple Lots For Sale
André Kertész 11
Berenice Abbott 10
Ansel Adams 8
Harry Callahan 8
George Platt Lynes 7
Lucien Clergue 6
Edward Curtis 6
Eugène Atget 5
Margaret Bourke-White 5
Aaron Siskind 5
Paul Strand 5

Other lots of interest include lot 361, Roman Vishniac, The Vanished World (portfolio), 1936-1938/1977, estimated at $25000-35000 (image above, left, via Swann), lot 360, Paul Strand, On the Shore, Gaspe, 1936/1940s, estimated at $10000-15000 (image above, middle, via Swann), and lot 480, Lee Friedlander, New Orleans, 1969/1978, estimated at $5000-7000 (image above, right, via Swann).

The complete lot by lot catalog can be found here.

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Read more about: Lee Friedlander, Paul Strand, Roman Vishniac, Swann Auction Galleries

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