Auction Preview: The Stephen L. White Photograph Collection, March 23, 2010 @Swann

Swann’s first photography sale of 2010 is a single owner collection of American photography owned by Stephen L. White. The collection mixes historical and fine art images from the 19th and 20th centuries, and was featured at an exhibit at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in 2001 (here). This catalogue divides the lots according to three categories that characterize the American Dream: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. There are 102 lots on offer in this sale, with a total High estimate of $786050. (Catalog cover at right, via Swann.)

Here’s the statistical breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including $10000): 81
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): $277050

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between $10000 and $50000): 20
Total Mid Estimate: $434000

Total High Lots (high estimate above $50000): 1
Total High Estimate: $75000

The top lot by High estimate is lot 73 Alfred Stieglitz, Going Home by Ferry, New York City, 1902/1920s, at $50000-75000. (Cover lot, at right.)

This collection is quite widely dispersed in terms of the artists represented. As a result, below is the rather short list of photographers (not including unidentified or anonymous photographers) with more than 1 lot in the sale (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Lewis Hine (5)
Eadward Muybridge (4)
Edward Steichen (2)
Alfred Stieglitz (2)
Benjamin Strauss (2)
Dr. Dain Tasker (2)

For our particular collection, we were most drawn to lot 62, Dr. Dain L. Tasker, Daffodils (in box), 1933, at $15000-25000. (Image at right, via Swann.)