Auction Preview: Fine Photographs, March 24, 2011 @Swann

Swann kicks off the New York Photographs spring auction season with a modest various owner sale next week. As usual, it contains a broad mix of lower end black and white material, mostly from the 20th century, with a selection of both vintage and later prints. Overall, there are 162 lots available, with a total High estimate of $1137300.

Here’s the statistical breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including $10000): 143
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): $742300

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between $10000 and $50000): 19
Total Mid Estimate: $395000

Total High Lots (high estimate above $50000): 0
Total High Estimate: NA

The top lot by High estimate is lot 9, Linnaeus Tripe, Photographs of the Elliot Marbles; and Other Subjects; in the Central Museum Madras, 1858-1859, at $35000-45000.
Below is the list of photographers with 3 or more lots in the sale (with the number of lots in parentheses):
Edward Weston (9)
Berenice Abbott (6)
Ruth Bernhard (5)
Harry Callahan (5)
Ansel Adams (4)
Henri Cartier-Bresson (4)
Alfred Cheney Johnston (4)
O. Winston Link (4)
Ilse Bing (3)
Wynn Bullock (3)
Edward Curtis (3)
Mario Giacomelli (3)
Stephen Shore (3)
Weegee (3)
(Lot 101, Alma Lavenson, Union Oil Tanks, Alameda, 1931/1987, at $4000-6000, image at right, top, lot 122, Roy DeCarava, Man Coming up Subway Stairs, 1952/1996, at $10000-15000, image at right, middle, and lot 145, Jaroslav Rossler, Untitled (light study), 1947, at $3000-4500, image at right, bottom, all via Swann.)
The complete lot by lot catalog can be found here. The 3D version is located here.
March 24th
Swann Galleries
104 East 25th Street
New York, NY 10010

Auction Results: First Open Post-War and Contemporary Art, March 10, 2011 @Christie’s

Christie’s has to be happy with the results for the photography in its First Open sale last week. The overall Buy-In rate was under 10%, and every price range brought in more proceeds than its aggregate high estimate. Even without a lot of positive surprises, the auction performed well from top to bottom.

The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):

Total Lots: 42
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: $757000
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: $1100000
Total Lots Sold: 38
Total Lots Bought In: 4
Buy In %: 9.52%
Total Sale Proceeds: $1158875

Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post, here):
Low Total Lots: 13
Low Sold: 11
Low Bought In: 2
Buy In %: 15.38%
Total Low Estimate: $99000
Total Low Sold: $113500
Mid Total Lots: 24
Mid Sold: 22
Mid Bought In: 2
Buy In %: 8.33%
Total Mid Estimate: $531000
Total Mid Sold: $541875
High Total Lots: 5
High Sold: 5
High Bought In: 0
Buy In %: 0.00%
Total High Estimate: $470000
Total High Sold: $503500

The top lot by High estimate was lot 117, Thomas Struth, El Capitan (Yosemite National Park), California, 1999 at $100000-150000: it was also the top outcome of the sale at $206500.

94.74% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range, and there were a total of three surprises in this sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 34, Louise Lawler, Chandelier, 2007, at $52500 (image at right, top, via Christie’s)

Lot 130, Gregory Crewdson, Untitled (Family Dinner), 2001-2002, at $43750 (image at right, middle, via Christie’s)
Lot 131, Peter Doig, Untitled, 2000, at $17500 (image at right, bottom, via Christie’s)
Complete lot by lot results can be found here.

20 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10020

Auction Results: Contemporary Art, March 9, 2011 @Sotheby’s

The results for the photography in Sotheby’s lower end Contemporary Art auction last week were altogether lackluster. With a Buy-In rate over 40% and just one positive surprise, it is no wonder the Total Sale Proceeds missed the low end of the range by a significant margin.

The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):

Total Lots: 39
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: $497000
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: $712000
Total Lots Sold: 22
Total Lots Bought In: 17
Buy In %: 43.59%
Total Sale Proceeds: $371501
Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post, here):

Low Total Lots: 13
Low Sold: 8
Low Bought In: 5
Buy In %: 38.46%
Total Low Estimate: $93000
Total Low Sold: $70001
Mid Total Lots: 25
Mid Sold: 13
Mid Bought In: 12
Buy In %: 48.00%
Total Mid Estimate: $559000
Total Mid Sold: $215000
High Total Lots: 1
High Sold: 1
High Bought In: 0
Buy In %: 0.00%
Total High Estimate: $60000
Total High Sold: $86500
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 19, Cindy Sherman, Untitled #109, 1982, at $40000-60000; it was also the top outcome of the sale at $86500. (Image at right, top, via Sotheby’s.)

95.45% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range. There was only 1 surprise in this sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 169, Shirin Neshat, I am its Secret, 1993, at $22500 (image at right, via Sotheby’s)
Complete lot by lot results can be found here.

1334 York Avenue
New York, NY 10021

Auction Results: Under the Influence, March 8, 2011 @Phillips

The proceeds for the photography in Phillips’ Under the Influence sale last week exceeded expectations, covering the high estimate with room to spare. With some help from Barbara Kruger and a low Buy-In rate (under 15%), it was a solid result all around.

The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):

Total Lots: 55
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: $375000
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: $532500
Total Lots Sold: 47
Total Lots Bought In: 8
Buy In %: 14.55%
Total Sale Proceeds: $654750

Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post, here):

Low Total Lots: 40
Low Sold: 33
Low Bought In: 7
Buy In %: 17.50%
Total Low Estimate: $215500
Total Low Sold: $238500

Mid Total Lots: 15
Mid Sold: 14
Mid Bought In: 1
Buy In %: 6.67%
Total Mid Estimate: $317000
Total Mid Sold: $416250

High Total Lots: 0
High Sold: NA
High Bought In: NA
Buy In %: NA
Total High Estimate: $0
Total High Sold: NA

The top lot by High estimate was lot 143, Vik Muniz, After Mark Rothko (from Pictures of Colors), 2001, at $30000-40000; it sold for $68500. The top outcome of the sale was lot 89, Barbara Kruger, Ohne Titel – Lust, 2001, at $92500.
82.98% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range. There were a total of 6 surprises in this sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):
Lot 77, Ryan McGinley, Dash Bombing, New York, 2000, at $20000 (image at right, top, via Phillips)
Lot 84, Katy Grannan, Untitled (from Poughukeepsie Journal), 1999, at $10000
Lot 85, Katy Grannan, Untitled (from Poughkeepsie Journal), 1999, at $11250 (image at right, bottom, via Phillips)
Lot 89, Barbara Kruger, Ohne Titel – Lust, 2001, at $92500
Lot 102, Dionisio Gonzalez, Heliopolis IV, 2006, at $8125
Lot 185, Zhang Huan, Meat and Text (from 1/2 Series), 1998, at $20000 (image at right, middle, via Phillips)
Complete lot by lot results can be found here.
New York, NY 10022
and
450 West 15th Street
New York, NY 10011

David Nadel, Burns @Sasha Wolf

JTF (just the facts): A total of 11 color photographs, framed in white and unmatted, and hung in the single room gallery space. All of the prints are archival pigment prints. The images come in two sizes: 15×12 in editions of 8, and 35×44 in editions of 6. (Installation shots at right.)

Comments/Context: David Nadel’s photographs of snow bound Montana forests reduce the landscape to a set of minimalist gestures, where charred tree trunks become dark vertical lines against the vast expanse of white. His pictures are like abstract exercises in linear geometry, executed with the delicacy of a dry point etching.
My first reaction when I entered the gallery was that these pictures were the direct descendants of Frank Gohlke’s Mount St. Helens images from the early 1980s, and they certainly share a common aesthetic of fallen trees and dense textural surfaces. What’s different here is that Nadel’s pictures are even flatter; significant depths of distance have been aligned into one skyless plane, removing the sense of scale and abstracting the mountains and valleys into white backdrops. As such, there is also some intellectual kinship to Frederick Sommer’s desert works, or some of Taiji Matsue’s elevated landscapes. Depending on Nadel’s position, the blackened trunks can look like up-close shoots of bamboo, or can be transformed into a calligraphic mix of spindly lines when seen from afar. The contrasts of thick and thin become the elements of his monochrome compositions.
At one level, there is something simple and decorative about this work; the effects of powerful burning have been softened, turned into muted line drawings. What I like better is to consider the concept of using the land as a basis for radical abstraction, and to see how different photographers have stripped away context in landscape to highlight its nuances of pattern and form.
Collector’s POV: The works on view are priced as follows: the 15×12 prints are $1200 each and the 35×44 prints are $3000 each. Nadel’s work has not yet entered the secondary markets, so gallery retail is likely the only option for interested collectors at this point.
My favorite image in the show is Burn #2; it’s on the right in the in the middle installation shot. I liked the busy right angle intersection of perpendicular lines formed by the vertical trunks and the fallen logs.
Rating: * (one star) GOOD (rating system described here)
Transit Hub:
  • Review: Wall Street Journal (here, scroll down)
Through March 26th
Sasha Wolf Gallery
528 West 28th Street
New York, NY 10001

Mariah Robertson, Hot Tropical Rain Jam @Museum 52

JTF (just the facts): A total of 5 large scale color works, framed in white and unmatted (except for the large installation which is alternately pinned to the wall and draped over a wooden rod), and hung/leaned in the small two room gallery space. All of the works are unique c-prints on metallic paper, made in 2011. The framed images are either “small” (59×74 or 81×51) or “large” (61×105 or reverse), while the installation work has dimensions of 1968×50 (if it was entirely unrolled). (Installation shots at right.)

Comments/Context: This is the third time I’ve seen Mariah Robertson’s work in the past couple of years, and each time I see it, I come away more interested in what she is doing. I attribute this increasing attention on my part to the fact that the work is a significant and radical departure from most of the current commonly held tenets of contemporary photography. It is unabashedly analog, it is process and materials centric without being perfectionist or reverently recreationist, it disregards the traditional definition of a frame (when was the last time you saw a 150 foot long photograph?), and it is mixes abstraction and representation in an unorthodox manner, overlayed with a healthy dollop of gestural expressionism. In short, it’s about as contrarian as you could get in today’s over-sharpened digital world.

I’ve been racking my brain for analogies and precedents for Robertson’s work, and all I can come up with is a mash-up of Robert Rauschenberg’s silkscreen rebuses, Hy Hirsch’s visual music stills, and any number of photogram/darkroom experimenters, executed in one long Kerouac stream of consciousness flow (I would use the word expressionist more liberally here, but I think that this particular word has recently been co-opted in a photographic sense to mean painterly Photoshop smudges, which isn’t at all what this work is about). These works juxtapose saturated color blocks, chemical splashes, spills and drips, angular geometric shapes and stripes, negative images, and laser pen scratches into one fluid and hypnotic frieze, which is either chopped up into single ideas or allowed to run free in rhythmic metallic billows.

These newer works seem slightly more exuberant and lively than the last batch I saw, perhaps a little less self-consciously mannered and a bit more chaotic; new visual ideas are being incorporated and the recipe is getting more complicated and flavorful. Overall, I think it’s still very much a work in progress, but given the risks she’s taking, the odds are getting better that she will end up somewhere durably original.

Collector’s POV: The works in this show are priced as follows. The “small” images are $14000 each, the “large” images are $16000 each, and the installation piece in the back is $30000. Robertson’s work is not readily available in the secondary markets, so gallery retail is likely the only option for interested collectors at this point.

While I certainly enjoyed many of the framed images in this exhibit, I suppose my favorite work was the big installation (9, 2011); it’s in the top installation shot. While the other works are relatively controlled, self-contained artistic thoughts, the installation has a looser, more improvisational feel that isn’t often associated with photography; yes, it’s messy, uneven, and sometimes hard to decipher, but the swirl of color and chemistry has a raw, physical energy that is surprisingly magnetic.

Rating: * (one star) GOOD (rating system described here)
Transit Hub:
  • Artist site (here)
  • Marvelli Gallery show, 2009 (DLK COLLECTION review here)
Through March 25th
4 East 2nd Street at Bowery
New York, NY 10003

Photography at the 2011 ADAA Art Show

As always, this year’s ADAA Art Show was characterized by its consistent quality from booth to booth and its extraordinarily high production values. Even though there is a wide spread of work on display in this show, the ratio of wheat to chaff is generally much higher than the other fairs. Once again, many of the exhibitors opted for solo shows or tightly edited groups of work, meticulously hung against colored walls or linen wallpaper. It’s a thoroughly sophisticated approach to an art fair; the challenge is that without a few jolts of roughness or energy, this hushed environment can lull you to sleep.
This post is organized by my path through the fair, starting to the left from the entrance, and winding back and forth before returning to the front to exit. Like our Armory posts, for each booth, a list of photographers has been provided, with the number of works on display in parentheses. Additional commentary, prices, and pictures of the installation are also included where specific images stood out.
Marian Goodman Gallery (here): Gabriel Orozco (2)
McKee Gallery (here): Richard Learoyd (1). Learoyd’s portraits are growing on me as I see them more. This one was priced at $35000.

Robert Miller Gallery (here): Diane Arbus (11)
Jill Newhouse (here): Anonymous (13). This booth was filled with Rodin sculptures and drawings, as well as quite a few photographs of his sculptures. It wasn’t clear who the photographer of record was for these images, as many were signed by Rodin himself. I particularly liked this set of three variant images. In general, the prints were reasonably priced, between $800 and $4500 each.

Zabriskie Gallery (here): Paul Strand (16). This booth was devoted to Strand, and aside from one industrial image and one Taos church, all of the works were from his garden in Orgeval, France. I very much enjoyed these two florals (look for the bees in the second one), both of which were priced at $24000.

Cheim & Read (here): Diane Arbus (1), William Eggleston (2), Walker Evans (1). The contrasts in this Evans were spectacular; however, it wasn’t for sale.

CRG Gallery (here): Lyle Ashton Harris (1), Joel-Peter Witkin (1)
Hans P. Kraus Jr. Fine Photographs (here): Bisson Freres (1), Jean Laurent (2), Felix Teynard (1), Auguste Salzmann (1), Louis-Remy Robert (2), Louis-Emile Durandelle (2), William Henry Fox Talbot (7), James Nasmyth (2), Anna Atkins (2), Louis Pierre Rousseau (1), Dr. Alfred Donne (1), Unknown (2), Edward Steichen (1), JB Greene (2), Andre Adolphe Eugene Disderi (2), James Ross and John Thomson (1), Nevil Story-Maskelyne (1), Duchenne de Boulogne and Adrien Tournachon (1), Circle of Charles Simart (1), Julia Margaret Cameron (1), Charles Marville (2). As usual, Kraus’ booth was a smorgasbord of 19th century photographic treasures. I had seen the two Atkins cyanotypes previously, so I was more intrigued by the Robert negative image, with its intersecting lines made by the cart and tools. It was priced at $60000.

Skarstedt Gallery (here): Cindy Sherman (2), Richard Prince (group of 4)
Fraenkel Gallery (here): Carleton Watkins (7), Robert Adams (10). This booth featured a smart pairing of Watkins and Adams, where echoes of land forms (rivers, masses of boulders, horizon lines, etc.) were matched together. I liked the Adams on the top left below, with its jagged shadow contrast and the hidden train track running below. The Adams images were priced between $12000 and $18000; the Watkins images were between $45000 and $190000.

Donald Young Gallery (here): Jeanne Dunning (2), James Welling (5), Rodney Graham (1 + 1 diptych), Mark Wallinger (stills on video screen)
Howard Greenberg Gallery (here): William Klein (20 + 1 video + 4 books). A brash booth full of Klein photographs was a bit of a surprise from Greenberg, which has often opted for a selection of iconic highlights in this kind of fair setting. I thought it was fresh and fantastic.

James Cohan Gallery (here): Katie Patterson (4)
Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects (here): Laurel Nakadate (12)
Pace/MacGill Gallery (here): Irving Penn (20). This booth contained a selection of Penn’s innovative corner portraits, where his famous subjects have been pushed into a narrow confining space. I enjoyed the two portraits of Georgia O’Keeffe on the inside wall of the booth, but perhaps my favorite was the Truman Capote on the front wall; I liked the way the space is taken up by the chair and Capote’s large coat, and I think the introduction of the vertical line of the wall opens up the strict formula of the composition. The Capote portrait was priced at $95000.


Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery (here): Mika Rottenberg (2), Barney Kulok (1). I liked the jumble of spaces and volumes in this large Kulok image; it was priced at $6000.

Regen Projects (here): Catherine Opie (3). There is certainly an echo of Hiroshi Sugimoto or Renate Aller in these Opie seascapes and sunsets, but there’s no denying the serene lushness of the pure blue images. These were priced at $30000 each.

Photography at the 2011 Armory, Part 4 of 4

The 4th and final portion of our 2011 Armory summary covers Pier 92, also known as the Armory Show Modern. Part 1 of the review (which includes an explanation of the format) can be found here; Parts 2 and 3 can be found here and here.

Marlborough Gallery (here): Hans Silvester (1)

JGM. Galerie (here): Anne & Patrick Poirer (2)
Vivian Horan Fine Art (here): Cindy Sherman (1), Lynda Benglis (6). I had no idea photography was part of Benglis’ artistic practice. These color lanscapes were carefully traced with gold paint in certain areas. I didn’t ask the prices.
Springer & Winckler Galerie (here): Georges Rouse (2), Andy Goldsworthy (2), Hiroshi Sugimoto (4), Sigmar Polke (4), Arnold Odermatt (18). The entire outside wall of this booth was devoted to Odermatt. Aside from the two color portraits of children, they were all black and white car crashes from Karambolage.


Wetterling Gallery (here): Nathalia Edenmont (6), Mike and Doug Starn (1 diptych, 1 triptych). I liked the simple fragility of this massive Starn leaf. It was priced at $38000.

Bruce Silverstein Gallery (here): Shinichi Maruyama (3), Michael Wolf (6), Barbara Morgan (2), Rosalind Solomon (1), Andre Kertesz (10), Nathan Lyons (3 diptychs), Trine Sondergaard (10), Frederick Sommer (1), John Wood (2), Edward Weston (1), Alfred Stiedglitz (1), Irving Penn (2), Todd Hido (3), Paul Strand (1), Yao Lu (1), Aaron Siskind (10). I never tire of Siskind’s building facades, with their patterns of windows, moldings, and architectural lines. They clearly also work well when hung as a group/grid, so the geometries and differences in scale/color can play off one another.

Francis Naumann Fine Art (here): Man Ray (6). This Man Ray nude was terrific close up; it was priced at a hefty $250000. I also liked the suite of mathematical objects (particularly the star shaped form in the upper left), which I had never seen before. They were priced at $120000 for the set of 4.

 

Marc Selwyn Fine Art (here): Richard Misrach (1), Robert Mapplethorpe (1), William Wegman (2), Donald Huebler (1), Robert Heinecken (3). I’ve always liked Heinecken’s Polaroid foodgrams. They were priced at $11000 each.

Alan Koppel Gallery (here): Hiroshi Sugimoto (2), Diane Arbus (1), Gregory Crewdson (1), Richard Hamilton (3), Robert Frank (1), Robert Moskowitz (1)
Armand Bartos Fine Art (here): Barbara Kruger (1)
Gerald Peters Gallery (here): J. Henry Fair (1)
HackelBury Fine Art (here): Doug and Mike Starn (2), Garry Fabian Miller (4), Pascal Kern (10)
Yancey Richardson Gallery (here): Victoria Sambunaris (2), Sharon Core (1), Olivo Barbieri (2), Rachel Perry Welty (2), Alex Prager (7 + 1 video), Andrew Moore (1), Laura Letinsky (2), bryan Graf (3)
Amy Wolf Fine Art (here) and Elrick-Manley Fine Art (here): Hannah Wilke (4)
Chowaiki & Co. (here): Cindy Sherman (1)
James Barron Art (here): Elinor Carucci (1), Sally Mann (1), Kohei Yoshiyuki (1), Brian Finke (1), Wolfgang Tillmans (1). This installation shot doesn’t do justice to the delicacy of this huge abstract Tillmans. The pigment washes down the surface in tiny traceries and puffs of purple smoke. The print was priced at $78000.


Nancy Hoffman Gallery (here): Lisea Lyons (2)

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Nohra Haime Gallery (here): Eve Sonneman (2 diptychs)
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Contessa Gallery (here): David Drebin (5)
Next up: Photography at the 2011 ADAA Art Show

Auction Preview: First Open Post-War and Contemporary Art, March 10, 2011 @Christie’s

Christie’s is last in line in the March Contemporary Art season with its First Open sale on Thursday, but the auction house comes to market with quite a bit more photographic value on offer than either of its two rivals. Out a total of 313 lots in the auction, there are 42 photographs available, with a total High estimate of $1100000.

Here’s the statistical breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including $10000): 13
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): $99000

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between $10000 and $50000): 24
Total Mid Estimate: $531000

Total High Lots (high estimate above $50000): 5
Total High Estimate: $470000

The top lot by High estimate is lot 117, Thomas Struth, El Capitan (Yosemite National Park), California, 1999 at $100000-150000 (image at right, middle, via Christie’s).

Here’s the complete list of photographers represented by two or more lots in the sale (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Matthew Barney (4)
Gordon Matta-Clark (3)
Gregory Crewdson (2)
Barbara Kruger (2)
Richard Prince (2)
Wang Qingsong (2)
(Lot 122, Matthew Barney, Cremaster I: Goodyear, 1995, at $80000-120000, at right, bottom, and lot 278, Gordon Matta-Clark, South East, 1975, at $15000-20000, at right, top, both via Christie’s.)The complete lot by lot catalog can be found here. The eCatalogue is located here.

Christie’s
20 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10020

Auction Preview: Contemporary Art, March 9, 2011 @Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s is up second in the lower end Contemporary Art parade in New York later this week. Out of a total of 343 lots on offer, there are 39 photographs interleaved, with a total High estimate for photography of $712000. Overall, I didn’t find much of note buried here.

Here’s the statistical breakdown:
Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including $10000): 13
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): $93000
Total Mid Lots (high estimate between $10000 and $50000): 25
Total Mid Estimate: $559000
Total High Lots (high estimate above $50000): 1
Total High Estimate: $60000
The top photography lot by High estimate is lot 19, Cindy Sherman, Untitled #109, 1982, at $40000-60000.
Here’s the list of photographers represented by two or more lots in the sale (with the number of lots in parentheses):
Olafur Eliasson (2)
Candida Hofer (2)
Richard Prince (2)
Andres Serrano (2)
Cindy Sherman (2)
Wang Qingsong (2)
(Lot 50, Dan Graham, Luxury Housing, Yorkville, New York, N.Y., 1966, at $6000-8000, image at right, middle, lot 159 Adam Fuss, Space, 1988, at $15000-20000, image at right, top, and lot 177, Zhang Dali, Demolition Series, 2000, at $5000-7000, image at right, bottom, all via Sotheby’s.)
The complete lot by lot catalog can be found here.
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March 9th
1334 York Avenue
New York, NY 10021

Photography at the 2011 Armory, Part 3 of 4

Part 3 of our 2011 Armory summary covers the entire left side Pier 94, left from the entrance area. Part 1 of the review (which includes an explanation of the format) can be found here; Part 2 can be found here.

Lisson Gallery (here): Rodney Graham (1), Maria Abramovic (group of 20)

Victoria Miro (here): Idris Khan (1), Isaac Julien (1), Doug Aitken (group of 20). This striking purple and orange grid of Aitken images was on an outside wall of the booth; I didn’t get a price.

Max Wigram Gallery (here): Slater Bradley (1), James White (1)
Museum 52 (here): Mariah Robertson (1)
Galeria Senda (here): Massimo Vitali (1), Ola Kolehmainen (1), Jordi Bernardo (2)
Galerie Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois (here): Alain Bublex (1)
Nicholas Robinson Gallery (here): Petros Christostoumou (1), Indre Serpytyte (1)
Sean Kelly Galley (here): James Casebere (2), Robert Mapplethorpe (2), Iran do Spirito Santo (4), Marina Abramovic (1), Frank Thiel (2). I liked the textured geometric uniformity of this monochrome Thiel. It was priced at 23000€.


Galerie Barbara Wien Wilma Lukatsch (here): Mariana Castillo Deball (4)

Carlier Gebauer (here): Jean-Luc Moulene (1)
Baronian_Francey (here): Florian Maier-Aichen (1)
Galerie Georg Kargl (here): Andreas Forarasi (1), David Maljkovic (1)
Yvon Lambert (here): David Claerbout (5+1 diptych)
Jack Shainman Gallery (here): Zwelethu Mthethwa (1), Hank Willis Thomas (1), Carrie Mae Weems (grid of 42), Richard Mosse (1). This was the first time I’ve seen one of Mosse’s infrared images of the Congo in person. The pink tonality of the mountainous jungle is truly electric; I’m looking forward to seeing an entire show of this body of work at some point soon. The image was priced at $19000.

BlainSouthern (here): Mat Collinshaw (13)
Galerie Gabrielle Maubrie (here): Hrafnkell Sigurdsson (1)
Buchmann Galerie (here): Bettina Pousttchi (2)
Galerie Daniel Templon (here): James Casebere (1)
Kavi Gupta Gallery (here): Curtis Mann (2). I continue to be impressed by these bleached images by Mann. I like the yellowed surface distortions and the glimpses of narrative underneath. This grid was $22000, and there were others to look at in a binder.

Workplace Gallery (here): Marcus Coates (1), Matt Stokes (1), Jo Coupe (1)
Parkett Publishers (here): Paul McCarthy (1), Annette Kelm (1)
Bugada & Cargnel (here): Cyprien Gaillard (4)
Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska (here): Josef Hoeflehner (2), Giovanni Castell (2), Olaf Otto Becker (2), Axel Hutte (1)
Ingleby Gallery (here): Garry Fabian Miller (7), Peter Liversidge (2), Susan Derges (1 diptych). I’ve always been a fan of Derges’ work, especially the River Taw series of photograms. These images of water over sand have an amazing sparkle up close. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a price.


Galeria Enrique Guerrero (here): Olga Adelantado (2). Pablo Helguera (6+slides on lightbox)

Faria Fabregas Galeria (here): Alessandro Balteo Yazbeck (1)
Ignacio Liprandi Arte Contemporaneo (here): Adriana Bustos (2)
Galeria Nara Roesler (here): Paolo Bruscky (2)
Lucia de la Puente (here): Edi Hirose (9)
Galeria Isabel Aninat (here): Denise Lira-Ratinoff, Collectivo Aninat & Swinburn (4)

Part 4 of the Armory review can be found here.

Auction Preview: Under the Influence, March 8, 2011 @Phillips

Phillips follows up the bustle of the New York art fairs with a lower end sale of Contemporary Art scheduled for tomorrow. Out of a total of 287 lots on offer, there are 55 lots of photography mixed in, with a total High estimate for photography of $532500.

Here’s the statistical breakdown:
Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including $10000): 40
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): $215500
Total Mid Lots (high estimate between $10000 and $50000): 15
Total Mid Estimate: $317000
Total High Lots (high estimate above $50000): 0
Total High Estimate: NA
The top lot by High estimate is lot 143, Vik Muniz, After Mark Rothko (from Pictures of Colors), 2001, at $30000-40000.
The following is the list of the photographers represented by two or more lots in this sale (with the number of lots on offer in parentheses):
Katy Grannan (4)
Ryan McGinley (4)
Vanessa Beecroft (2)
Anna Gaskell (2)
Sarah Jones (2)
Barbara Kruger (2)
Elad Lassry (2)
Florian Maier–Aichen (2)
Vik Muniz (2)
Gabriel Orozco (2)
Richard Prince (2)
(Lot 88, Barbara Kruger, Ohne Titel -Evil, 2001, at $20000-30000, at right, top, lot 105, Matthias Hoch, Ravensburg #24, 2002, at $3000-4000, image at right, bottom, and lot 108, Walter Niedermayr, Dachstein 1, 1997, at $10000-15000, image at right, middle, all via Phillips.)
The complete lot by lot catalog can be found here.
Phillips De Pury & Company
450 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10022

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