Helmar Lerski, Transformations Through Light @UBU

JTF (just the facts): A total of 88 black and white photographs, framed in black and matted, and hung against white walls in the entry/upstairs gallery and the larger downstairs space (separated by an angled dividing wall). All of the works are vintage gelatin silver prints, made between 1912 and 1944. The prints range in size from roughly 9×7 to 12×9. Unfortunately, no photography was allowed in the galleries, so there are no installation shots for this exhibit. (Eye Opened from Transformations of Light, Series No. 588, c 1936, at right, via UBU Gallery website.)

There are 23 images upstairs and 65 images downstairs, divided into five subject matter/thematic categories:

  • Verwandlungen des Lichts (Transformations Through Light)
  • Köpfe des Alltags (Everyday Faces)
  • Jüdische Köpfe (Jewish Faces)
  • Arabische Köpfe (Arabic Faces)
  • Menschliche Hände (Human Hands)
Comments/Context: Helmar Lerski’s tightly cropped photographic portraits have an unusual patina that most resembles the look of sculptural bronze. His close-up, full frame faces and hands are lit with a mixture of natural, artificial, and reflected light, creating unlikely shines, shadows and highlights that appear almost buffed and etched.

While Lerski’s subjects come from a variety of ethnic and cultural groups and backgrounds (taken in systematic series), each deadpan sitter has been transformed into a kind of heroic historical figure by the intense attention paid to his or her facial features. Often the faces are seen in angled profile or looking away, and a few of the subjects return again and again, the repetition enabling a multi-image mapping exercise of the weathered topography of a single face. Skin textures run the gamut from the furrows of dry, aged wrinkles, to the smooth perfection of youth or the greasy, oily glare of a sweaty brow. A whole wall in the downstairs gallery is taken up by detailed close-ups of hands, the fingers searching and intertwined in various tasks, working with pencils or playing instruments.

What is most exciting about Lerski’s portraits is how they seem to balance an avant–garde aesthetic with a timeless, universal quality of humanity. At their best, these images take specific individuals and turn them into powerful symbols and archetypes, capable of transcending their own personal circumstances to tell stories that are relevant to all.

Collector’s POV: The images in this exhibition are not available for individual sale. According to a gallery representative, the whole collection is for sale as one unit for approximately $1.5M. Lerski’s prints haven’t come up for auction much in recent years; the few lots that have sold have ranged in price between $2000 and $14000, but given the small sample size, this may not be entirely representative of the actual market for his work. (Arab, No. 375, c 1930s, at right, via UBU Gallery website.)

Rating: * (one star) GOOD (rating system described here)

Transit Hub:
  • Reviews: New Yorker (here), New York Photo Review (here), Horses Think (here)
Helmar Lerski, Transformations Through Light
Through June 25th
416 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022

David Goldblatt, Particulars @Greenberg

JTF (just the facts): A total of 20 black and white photographs, framed in white and matted, and hung against light brown walls in the main gallery space. The square format gelatin silver prints are each roughly 20×20, and have been printed in editions of 8 or 15. Nearly all of the works were made in Johannesburg in 1975 (one was made in 1982 and a few were taken in other locations); the prints were made more recently (“printed later”). An unrelated group of thirteen 1930’s vintage prints by Henri Cartier-Bresson is on view in the book alcove. (Installation shots at right.)

Comments/Context: With the big shows at the New Museum last year and the Jewish Museum right now (both linked below), it would be easy to conclude that New York has had plenty of chances to get up to speed on the work of South African photographer David Goldblatt, and that therefore, this smaller gallery show (unbelievably, his first gallery show ever in New York) would be one to pass by. Think again. Rather than opting for a”one of everything” mini-retrospective selling show, Howard Greenberg has smartly chosen to focus on a single, tightly edited photographic project and show it in more depth. It’s a compelling, self-contained body of work (no pun intended), highlighting the more intimate and personal side of Goldblatt’s photography.
The images themselves are all up-close, frame filling fragments of bodies: legs and feet dangling from park benches, folded arms, hands resting in laps, and limbs splayed on the grass. Goldblatt has a sharp eye for detail and proportion, for bulges of clothing, textures of fabric, and the small signifiers of age and class found in jewelry, hairstyle, shoes, or the cut of a suit. Like all of his work, these pictures document the cultural mix of black and white that is embedded in everyday existence in South Africa, but without taking sides; a broad spectrum of skin colors and economic conditions can be found in these chopped up forms.
The prints themselves bear all the hallmarks of masterful black and white craftsmanship, especially in their tactile contrasts of tonality: the deep black of a coat sits atop spiky silver grass, a hairy chest peeks out from a dark shirt, and wrinkled black hands cradle a warm glow. Image to image along the wall, it’s a consistently impressive display of compositional control. So while the massive museum shows are doing a respectable job of educating us about the broad sweep of David Goldblatt’s many talents and long photographic career, don’t miss the chance to get beyond the big picture, to get down a step further into a more comprehensive look at his elegant and original approach to a commonplace subject.
Collector’s POV: The later prints in this show are all priced at $6000 each. Goldblatt’s work has not been widely available in the secondary markets in recent years, so it’s difficult to discern much of an overall pricing pattern for his prints. David Goldblatt is also represented by Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg (here). As an aside, I think Goldblatt’s up-close bodies will appeal to those who like the abstraction of Bill Brandt’s nudes; Goldblatt’s images are cripser and less distorted, but are in many ways rooted in the same geometries of human line and form.
Rating: ** (two stars) VERY GOOD (rating system described here)
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Transit Hub:

  • Artist site (here)
  • Book: Particulars (here)
  • Jewish Museum, 2010 (here)
  • Intersections Intersected, New Museum, 2009 (here); Reviews: DLK COLLECTION (here), New Yorker (here), NY Times (here)
  • 2006 Hasselblad Award (here)
  • 1998 MoMA exhibit (here)

David Goldblatt, Particulars
Through June 12th

Howard Greenberg Gallery
41 East 57th Street
New York, NY 10022

Auction Results: Photographs, May 20, 2010 @Bonhams London

The results of the recent Photographs sale at Bonhams in London were generally muted, with a buy-in rate over 40% and total sale proceeds that missed the estimate range by a decent margin. In an otherwise uneventful sale, André Villers’ images of Picasso all sold above their High estimates.

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

Total Lots: 137
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: £304500
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: £490400
Total Lots Sold: 81
Total Lots Bought In: 56
Buy In %: 40.88%
Total Sale Proceeds: £241320

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

Low Total Lots: 109
Low Sold: 68
Low Bought In: 41
Buy In %: 37.61%
Total Low Estimate: £219400
Total Low Sold: £150120

Mid Total Lots: 27
Mid Sold: 13
Mid Bought In: 14
Buy In %: 51.85%
Total Mid Estimate: £236000
Total Mid Sold: £91200

High Total Lots: 1
High Sold: 0
High Bought In: 1
Buy In %: 100.00%
Total High Estimate: £35000
Total High Sold: £0

The top lot by High estimate was lot 125, Thomas Ruff, Porträt (V. Liebermann), 1998, at £25000-35000; it did not sell. The top outcome of the sale was tied between lot 47, André Villers, Picasso Popeye, Cannes, 1957/1989, and lot 137, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Satellite Tower City, 2002, both at £12600.

78.57% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above their estimate. There were a total of 7 surprises in this sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 10, Grace Robertson, On the Caterpillar, London Women’s Pub Outing (Clapham), 1956/Later, at £1920
Lot 18, Thurston Hopkins, Keeping Warm, Islington, London, 1950/Later, at £3600
Lot 25, Wolfgang Suschitzky, Charing Cross Road from No. 84 (Marks and Co.), 1937/Later, at £1920
Lot 26, Wolfgang Suschitzky, Embankment, London, 1947/Later, at £1920
Lot 46, André Villers, Picasso, Cannes, 1958/1989, at £3120
Lot 47, André Villers, Picasso Popeye, Cannes, 1957/1989, at £12600
Lot 48, André Villers, Picasso with revolver and hat of Gary Cooper, 1958/1989, at £7200 (image at right, top, via Bonhams)

Complete lot by lot results can be found here.

Bonhams
101 New Bond Street
London W1S 1SR

Auction Results: Photographs, May 21, 2010 @Christie’s South Kensington

The results of the recent Photographs sale at Christie’s in London were surprisingly strong, with all 44 lots from the Norman Hall collection finding buyers (many at unexpectedly high prices) and several Irving Penns jumping well above their estimates. Overall, the buy-in rate was low (just over 10%) and the total sale proceeds covered the total High estimate with plenty of room to spare.

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

Total Lots: 111
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: £552900
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: £797500
Total Lots Sold: 98
Total Lots Bought In: 13
Buy In %: 11.71%
Total Sale Proceeds: £966013

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

Low Total Lots: 67
Low Sold: 58
Low Bought In: 9
Buy In %: 13.43%
Total Low Estimate: £173500
Total Low Sold: £198688

Mid Total Lots: 37
Mid Sold: 35
Mid Bought In: 2
Buy In %: 5.41%
Total Mid Estimate: £404000
Total Mid Sold: £571700

High Total Lots: 7
High Sold: 5
High Bought In: 2
Buy In %: 28.57%
Total High Estimate: £220000
Total High Sold: £195625

The top lot by High estimate was lot 47, Gustave Le Gray, View across the Nile, 1867, at £30000-40000; it sold for £51650. The top outcome of the sale was lot 59, Irving Penn, Pompier, Paris, 1950/1967 at £87650. (Image at right, top, via Christie’s.)

86.73% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above their estimate. There were 19 surprises in this sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 1, Jean-Philippe Charbonnier, Casino de Paris, 1960, at £2375
Lot 2, Robert Doisneau, Hommages Respectueux, Concert Mayol, Paris, 1952, at £3750
Lot 5, Brassaï, Self-Portrait, c1955, at £8125
Lot 7, Willy Ronis, Self-Portrait, 1951, at £7500
Lot 21, Guido Mangold, Jacqueline Kennedy, 1963, at £4375
Lot 22, Aart Klein, Urban landscapes 1-3, c1960, at £4625
Lot 25, Bill Brandt, Nude, London, 1953, at £6000
Lot 30, Cecil Beaton, Lady Aberconway’s cat, Antonia, Bodnat, 1950, at £2250
Lot 31, Cecil Beaton, Basket maker, Corsica, c1938, at £2125
Lot 35, David Chim Seymour, Spanish Civil War, Extremadura, 1936, at £2500
Lot 36, Werner Bischof, Meiji Jingu, 1951, at £4000
Lot 37, Jean-Philippe Charbonnier, Kuwait, 1955, at £3000
Lot 38, Ara Güler, Erdine, Turkey, 1956, at £4375 (image at right, via Christie’s)
Lot 40, Brett Weston, Self-portrait, 1956, at £5625
Lot 59, Irving Penn, Pompier, Paris, 1950/1967, at £87650
Lot 60, Irving Penn, Workman, London, 1950/1970, at £43250
Lot 65, Irving Penn, Nude 151, 1945-1950/1976, at £13750

Lot 67, Helmut Newton, Sumo, 1999, at £6250
Lot 69, Helmut Newton, Self-portrait with wife and models, 1981/1984, at £20000
Complete lot by lot results can be found here.
Christie’s
85 Old Brompton Road
London SW7 3LD

Tomoko Sawada, Mirrors @Zabriskie

JTF (just the facts): A total of 30 small scale color works, framed in brown wood and matted, and hung in the main gallery space and back viewing room. All of the photographs are digital c-prints, made in 2009, sized roughly 4×7, and printed in editions of 8. (Installation shots at right.)

Comments/Context: Japanese photographer Tomoko Sawada has already made a sizeable photographic career out of the simple idea of changing her outward appearance. From arrays of photobooth self-portraits to school girl class pictures and arranged marriage shots, she has used nuances in clothing, makeup, hairstyle, and facial gesture to generate literally hundreds of variations on herself, quietly commenting on cultural traditions, societal roles and norms, and the creation of personal identity along the way.
Her newest body of work continues in this same vein, this time using paired portraits of herself which are identical except for small changes in superficial details (hence the title of the show, Mirrors). In what might be pictures of twins, sisters, or futuristic (and creepy) clones, all is exactly the same except for the manipulation of one mundane, everyday variable: the color of a blouse, the style of the hair, or the tilt of a head. What is altogether surprising is how much these small external characteristics seem to imply about age, class, and personality, as well as the subtleties of mood and emotion.

I think it’s overly easy to connect Sawada’s work to that of Cindy Sherman or Nikki Lee, and there certainly are obvious parallels in terms of mimicking of appearances and the chameleon-like approach to outward transformation. What I think is slightly different here (especially in her new work) is that Sawada doesn’t recede into “character” or the staged environment quite so much; while there is an element of play-acting, the spoofing and satire is a little less overt in these pictures, the approach a bit cooler and more deadpan conceptual. Perhaps another way to put this is that while Sherman and Lee often “become” their characters, I never seem to lose sight of Sawada the artist, even when she has modified her appearance significantly.
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Collector’s POV: Each of the works in this show is priced at $1300. While Sawada is on her way to becoming increasingly well known here in the US, her work has not yet reached the secondary markets for photography in any significant volume, so no detailed auction price history is readily available. As such, gallery retail is likely the only option for interested collectors at this point.
Rating: * (one star) GOOD (rating system described here)
Transit Hub:
  • Artist site (here)
  • Interviews: Artkrush (here), Pingmag (here)
  • Heavy Light, 2008 @ICP (here)
  • Review: NY Times, 2003 (here)
  • Book review: School Days, Japan Exposures (here)
Through July 9th

Zabriskie Gallery
41 East 57th Street
New York, NY 10022

Auction Preview: Photographie, June 3, 2010 @Villa Grisebach

Villa Grisebach has its photographs sale in Berlin next week, and statistically speaking (number of lots, total value on offer etc.), it is almost an exact copy of its sale last November. This time around, Man Ray images, including several multi-picture pages from family albums, are the cornerstone. Overall, there are a total of 182 lots on offer in this sale, with a Total High Estimate of 666400€. (Catalog cover at right, via Villa Grisebach.)

Here’s the breakdown:
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Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including 7500€): 167
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): 470400€
Total Mid Lots (high estimate between 7500€ and 35000€): 15
Total Mid Estimate: 196000€
Total High Lots (high estimate above 35000€): 0
Total High Estimate: NA
The top lot by High estimate is lot 1240, Lotte Jacobi, Die Tanzerin Niura Norskaya, 1929, at 20000-22000€. (image at right, via Villa Grisebach)
Here is the list of the photographers who are represented by three or more lots in the sale (with the number of lots in parentheses):
Man Ray (12)
Andreas Feininger (4)

Dieter Appelt (3)
Manuel Alvarez Bravo (3)
Mario Giacomelli (3)
Thomas Ruff (3)
Julius Shulman (3)
Louis Stettner (3)
The complete lot by lot catalog can be found here.
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June 3rd
Fasanenstraße 25
D-10719 Berlin

Auction Results: Photographs, May 20, 2010 @Phillips London

The results for the Photographs sale at Phillips in London last week were generally solid, if somewhat unremarkable. The buy-in rate was just over 30% and the total sale proceeds covered the total Low estimate.

The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
Total Lots: 127
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: £842500
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: £1166500
Total Lots Sold: 86
Total Lots Bought In: 41
Buy In %: 32.28%
Total Sale Proceeds: £901375
Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post, here):
Low Total Lots: 57
Low Sold: 40
Low Bought In: 17
Buy In %: 29.82%
Total Low Estimate: £173500
Total Low Sold: £143000
Mid Total Lots: 61
Mid Sold: 40
Mid Bought In: 21
Buy In %: 34.43%
Total Mid Estimate: £628000
Total Mid Sold: £464575
High Total Lots: 9
High Sold: 6
High Bought In: 3
Buy In %: 33.33%
Total High Estimate: £365000
Total High Sold: £293800
The top lot by High estimate was lot 54, Robert Mapplethorpe, X, Y, Z Portfolios, 1977/1978, at £60000-80000; it was also the top outcome of the sale at £73250.
93.02% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above their estimate. There were a total of 7 surprises in this sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):
Lot 1, Sebastiao Salgado, Dinka man at cattle camp of Kei, Southern Sudan, 2006, at £16250
Lot 14, Terry O’Neill, Michael Caine and Bob Hoskins, Reynold’s Revue Bar, London, 1985/Later, at £10000
Lot 22, Nobuyoshi Araki, Untitled, 1986/2003, at £6875 (image at right, top, via Phillips)
Lot 58, Andre Kertesz, Untitled, 1979, at £8125
Lot 86, Julius Shulman, Case Study #22, Los Angeles, Pierre Koenig, Architect, 1960/Later, at £4875
Lot 115, Rene Burri, Sao Paolo, Brazil, 1960/2000, at £6000
Lot 121, Cornell Capa, Bolshoi Ballet School, Moscow, 1958/2001, at £5250
Complete lot by lot results can be found here.
Phillips De Pury & Company
Howick Place
London SW1P 1BB

Auctions Previews: Photography, with the Vogel Collection and Contemporary Art, May 31, June 1, and June 2, 2010 @Lempertz

Kunsthaus Lempertz has a group of sales coming up in Cologne next week, a various owner Photography sale, a single collector sale that includes photography, and a Contemporary Art sale that includes photography. Lempertz does the smart thing of pulling all the photo lots into one printed catalog, so collectors don’t have to dig through all the various catalogs to find the photo lots of interest (they are separate online however). Overall, there are a total of 264 photo lots on offer across the three sales, with a Total High Estimate of 883700€.

If you ever said to yourself that you wanted a Sigmar Polke photograph for your collection, now would be a good time to acquire one: there are 16 Polkes in the Vogel sale, the most I have ever seen at auction at one time (Lot 1140, Sigmar Polke, Untitled (from the series: Paris), 1971, at 12000-15000€, image at right, via Lempertz.) There are also a number of excellent Becher winding towers (all groups of 4 images) available (Lot 1010 Zeche Bonifacius, Essen, 1981-1982, at 15000€, image at right, bottom, via Lempertz.)

Here’s the breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including 7500€): 233
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): 398200€

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between 7500€ and 35000€): 30
Total Mid Estimate: 425500€

Total High Lots (high estimate above 35000€): 1
Total High Estimate: 60000€

The top lot by High estimate is lot 951, Andy Warhol, Untitled (The Dirty Half Dozen), 1969, at 50000-60000€.

Here’s the list of photographers who are represented by three or more lots in the three sales (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Sigmar Polke (16)
Bernd & Hilla Becher (8)
Heinrich Kühn (7)
Albert Renger–Patzsch (7)
August Sander (6)
Nobuyoshi Araki (5)
Candida Höfer (5)
Peter Keetman (5)
Richard Hamilton (4)
Clemens Kalischer (4)
Alfred Stieglitz (4)
Hiroshi Sugimoto (4)
Henri Cartier-Bresson (3)
Robert Doisneau (3)
T. Lux Feininger (3)
Edmund Kesting (3)
August Kreyenkamp (3)
Hedda Hammer Morrison (3)
Man Ray (3)
Leni Riefenstahl (3)
Jeanloup Sieff (3)
Miroslav Tichy (3)
Umbo (3)

The complete lot by lot online catalogs can be found here (Photography), here (Vogel Collection) and here (Contemporary Art).

Photography
May 31st

The Vogel Collection
June 1st

Contemporary Art
June 2nd

Kunsthaus Lempertz
Neumarkt 3
D-50667 Köln

Julian Faulhaber, Lowdensitypolyethylene II @Hasted Hunt Kraeutler

JTF (just the facts): A total of 11 large scale color works, unframed and hung against white walls in the three front rooms of the gallery. All of the prints are digital Lambda prints, mounted on aluminum Reynobond and covered with white plexi. Sizes range from roughly 32×26 to 47×60. The works in the show were made between 2005 and 2010, and all of the prints are available in editions of 7. An unrelated show of 11 black and white fashion images by Richard Avedon is on display in the back gallery. (Installation shots at right.)

Comments/Context: German photographer Julian Faulhaber’s images of futuristic candy-colored architectural details capture unexpected places in the moment before they are actually put into use. Before the wear and tear has begun, before we ordinary humans inadvertently scratch the paint, scuff the floors, and dent the walls, Faulhaber has documented these malls, parking garages, and locker rooms in their pristine, antiseptic perfection.

While these locations will all eventually be high-traffic public spaces, in Faulhaber’s world, there is a chilling unreality in their current emptiness, their vivid colors and super cleanliness full of expectant optimism. Fragments of parking meters, toll booths, merchandise racks and cabinets have become abstracted, eye-popping compositions, reminiscent of the pared down diorama effect in the work of Thomas Demand or Josef Schulz. They have an air of utopian purity, an unblemished, disinfected clarity that hopes for an immaculate and uncontaminated time to come.

Unfortunately, life is altogether a messy affair and these dreamlike spaces will soon be less than extra perfect (as an aside, it might be intriguing to pair these works with some of Brian Ulrich’s images of end of the line malls to see the before/after contrast more sharply). As such, these pictures work on a couple of levels: as vibrant, decorative architectural abstractions and as more subtle commentaries on the difference between the streamlined future we imagine for ourselves and the actual, rougher truth.

Collector’s POV: All of the works in this show are priced in rising editions. Most start at $7500 and continue to $10000, depending on the place in the edition. Two of the smaller works range between $5500-8000 and $6500-9000 respectively. Faulhaber’s prints have not yet made their way to the secondary markets, so no pricing history is readily available. As such, gallery retail is likely the only option for interested collectors at this point. An earlier piece from this same series was also included in the Reality Check show at the Met in 2008 (here).

Rating: * (one star) GOOD (rating system described here)

Transit Hub:

  • Artist site (here)
  • Reviews: New York (here), Conscientious (here), Artforum, 2007 (here)
  • Profile: Foam (here)

Julian Faulhaber, Lowdensitypolyethylene II
Through June 26th

Hasted Hunt Kraeutler
537 West 24th Street
New York, NY 10011

Auction Results: Photographs, May 20, 2010 @Sotheby’s London

If not for the solid performance of a handful of top end lots, several of which were Irving Penns, the results of the Photographs sale at Sotheby’s in London might have looked significantly worse. As it was, the buy-in rate was over 50% and the total sale proceeds just covered the total Low estimate.

The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
Total Lots: 125
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: £1118000
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: £1557000
Total Lots Sold: 58
Total Lots Bought In: 67
Buy In %: 53.60%
Total Sale Proceeds: £1150950
Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post, here):
Low Total Lots: 6
Low Sold: 1
Low Bought In: 5
Buy In %: 83.33%
Total Low Estimate: £24000
Total Low Sold: £6875
Mid Total Lots: 110
Mid Sold: 50
Mid Bought In: 60
Buy In %: 54.55%
Total Mid Estimate: £1138000
Total Mid Sold: £600575
High Total Lots: 9
High Sold: 7
High Bought In: 2
Buy In %: 22.22%
Total High Estimate: £395000
Total High Sold: £543500
The top lot by High estimate was lot 76, Irving Penn, Two Liqueurs, New York, 1951/1960, at £60000-80000; it was also the top outcome of the sale at £145250.
98.28% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above their estimate. There was only one surprise in this sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):
Lot 52, Irving Penn, Pablo Picasso at La Californie, 1957/1968, at £121250 (image at right, top, via Sotheby’s)
Complete lot by lot results can be found here.
34-35 New Bond Street
London W1A 2AA

Andy Goldsworthy: New York Dirt Water Light @Lelong

JTF (just the facts): A total of 9 photographic “suites”, 1 video triptych, and 1 sculpture/installation made of dirt, all displayed without frames, in the entry, a side viewing room, and the main gallery space. 8 of the photographic suites are made up of color inkjet prints: the individual prints range in size from 14×11 to 19×11 (or reverse) and are hung tightly in groups ranging from 14 to 40 prints. The other photographic suite is made up of black and white inkjet prints: a group of 20 prints, each 7×4, flanked by a pair of larger 30×17 prints. All of the photographic prints are unique. The video installation is made up of 3 HD video channels with sound, displayed on three 70×42 screens hung side by side. The dirt installation blocks an interior doorway in the back of the gallery. All of the works were made in 2010. (Installation shots at right.)

Comments/Context: For the better part of his career, British sculptor Andy Goldsworthy has been making art firmly and deeply rooted in the simplicity of the natural world. Sometimes ephemeral and fleeting, at other times more permanent, his works have consistently explored the fragile limits of found, local materials, always respectfully balancing the existing environment with his own personal point of view. Many of his more temporary sculptures, those that have been washed away by the incoming tide, melted by the sun, or just blown away by the wind, have been carefully documented via photographs, where changing light and passing time have become additional elements in his overall artistic process.
In his new works, Goldsworthy has applied this grounded, natural sensibility to the frenetic, man-made world of New York city. With no large rocks, sticks, or leaves to use as his materials, the artist was forced to improvise with what was available in the urban jungle. The result is a series of time-elapsed photographs of streets and sidewalks, decorated with shapes and forms made from gutter water, dirt, and light.
While this description might sound either utterly ridiculous or possibly revolting, the actual effect is surprisingly elegant. In several of the works, Goldsworthy uses his characteristic back and forth snake-like squiggle (alternately rounded and jagged) to traverse a busy street or wander down a long sidewalk. The wet line starts out as deep black or white, and slowly fades as the water evaporates; cars pass, people walk right over it, and the sculpture disappears. In others, Goldsworthy uses the nighttime reflections from an ATM or the gaudy lights of Times Square to illuminate wet circles and improvisational splashes; lurid orange, red, and blue spots stand out on the heavily trafficked sidewalks and then slowly vanish. In the video, the artist lies down in the rain amidst the rushing pedestrians, leaving his outlined form on the cement like a chalk circle for a dead body.
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It almost seems like Goldsworthy has slowed down time, or altered our perception of it via his use of the city as a sculptural playground. His gestures look innocent and modest, almost otherworldly in the rough and tumble environment, but it is their utter simplicity that makes them effective. Who would have thought that a seemingly random wet circle in Times Square could become art, and thereby transform our view of the jostling world around us? Rather than being overly clever or grasping for attention, Goldsworthy’s forms have remained humble. As a result, he has uncovered new and original moments of grace in this chaotic city, hiding in plain sight, drawn with an unremarkable fistful of muck from the gutter.
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Collector’s POV: The works in this show are priced as follows. The photographic suites range in price from $50000 to $95000, roughly based on size. The video triptych is $100000 and the dirt installation is $75000. Goldsworthy’s photographs do come up for sale at auction from time to time. In recent years, prices have ranged between $5000 and $36000.
When we lived on the West coast, our young kids would routinely clamber around a sculpture of his at Stanford (here); now that we live in the East, we make the trip to Storm King (here), or just drive down a quiet dirt round not far from our house to see a private commission of his (called Three Roadside Boulders I think). While Goldsworthy’s works don’t fit neatly into any of our collecting genres, his photographic pieces still tempt us from time to time, and we remain drawn to some of his smaller, more intimate images.
Rating: * (one star) GOOD (rating system described here)
Transit Hub:
  • Spire (here)
  • Exhibits: Met, 2004 (here), National Gallery, 2005 (here)
  • Interview: Time, 2007 (here)
  • Review: NY Times, 2007 (here)
Through June 19th
528 West 26th Street
New York, NY 10001

Auction Results: Photographic Literature & Important Photographs, May 20, 2010, @Swann

The results of Swann’s combination sale of photographic books and photographs last week were slightly weaker than those of the equivalent sale last October. In both sections of the sale, the buy-in rate was over 40% and the total sale proceeds fell well below the total Low estimate. Additionally, there were are high percentage of lots that sold below their estimate range (over 50% in the photographs portion of the sale).

The summary statistics across the two portions of the sale are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):

Total of Both

Total Lots: 454
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: $1345400
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: $1956100
Total Lots Sold: 264
Total Lots Bought In: 190
Buy In %: 41.85%
Total Sale Proceeds: $962612

Photographic Literature Only

Total Lots: 195
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: $302800
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: $438150
Total Lots Sold: 110
Total Lots Bought In: 85
Buy In %: 43.59%
Total Sale Proceeds: $191580

Important Photographs Only

Total Lots: 259
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: $1042600
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: $1517950
Total Lots Sold: 154
Total Lots Bought In: 105
Buy In %: 40.54%
Total Sale Proceeds: $771032

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

Photographic Literature Only

Low Total Lots: 186
Low Sold: 106
Low Bought In: 80
Buy In %: 43.01%
Total Low Estimate: $286150
Total Low Sold: $132180

Mid Total Lots: 9
Mid Sold: 4
Mid Bought In: 5
Buy In %: 55.56%
Total Mid Estimate: $152000
Total Mid Sold: $59400

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 in the book section was lot 22, Doris Ullman, Roll, Jordan, Roll, 1933, at $25000-35000; it was also the top outcome of the session at $28800.

Only 64.55% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range in this portion of the sale. There were two surprises in this section (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 85, Irving Penn, Irving Penn, 1984, at $6480
Lot 113, Harold Edgerton, Moments of Vision: The Stroboscopic Revolution in Photography, 1979, at $3840

Important Photographs Only

Low Total Lots: 236
Low Sold: 140
Low Bought In: 96
Buy In %: 40.68%
Total Low Estimate: $1122950
Total Low Sold: $542192

Mid Total Lots: 23
Mid Sold: 14
Mid Bought In: 9
Buy In %: 39.13%
Total Mid Estimate: $395000
Total Mid Sold: $228840

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 in the photographs section was lot 279, Edward Weston, Nude (Charis), 1935, at $35000-45000; it was also the top outcome of the session at $33600.

Only 49.35% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range. There were a total of six surprises in this section (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 210, Felix Beato, Album of old Japan, 1872, at $26400 (image at right, top, via Swann)
Lot 216, Paul Strand, Wall Street, New York, 1915/1916, at $9000
Lot 244, Wilhelm Von Gloeden, Untitled (frontal nude, seaside), c1900, at $4080
Lot 269, (Crime), 29 New York-related crime photographs, 1920-1930s, at $9600
Lot 374, Berenice Abbott, Group of science photographs, 1958-1961/1982, at $7500
Lot 420, Eliot Porter, Group of nature studies, 1968-1974, at $16800 (image at right, middle, via Swann)

Complete lot by lot results for both sessions can be found here.

104 East 25th Street
New York, NY 10010

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