Christie’s series of three photographs sales the week of October 10 has taken the market to previously unseen heights. Totaling $14,530,360, the sales – the Gert Elfering collection, Robert Mapplethorpe Flowers and photographs – offered collectors a selection of Twentieth Century photography and combined were 94 percent sold by value and 85 percent by lot. The success of the three sales, which were expected to realize in the region of $8.5 million, has set a new standard and benchmark as the market continues to mature and strengthen, according to Christie’s, which added that the results reinforced the firm’s position at the centre of the business. “The Christie’s photographs department could not be more thrilled by the results from the sales,” said Joshua Holdeman, head of photographs, New York, and Philippe Garner, international director of photographs. “Numerous auction records were shattered and the overall strength and depth of the marketplace was resoundingly demonstrated. We are delighted to have achieved this spectacular total through a tightly edited group of 400 lots between the three sales.” Among the numerous records that were set during the auctions was a “re-breaking” of the Robert Mapplethorpe record on October 12, which had stood for only 48 hours, originally broken during the dedicated Robert Mapplethorpe Flowers sale. Other seminal photographer records set included those for Henri Cartier-Bresson, Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Peter Beard and Brassaï. And, for the first time, a photograph lot sold for more than $1 million in the United States, when Edward S. Curtis’ complete “North American Indian” portfolios fetched $1,416,000, also setting a world auction record for the photographer. The Elfering collection, expected to realize in excess of $4million, totaled $7,158,080 and was 97 percent sold by value, 88percent sold by lot. The Robert Mapplethorpe Flowers auction, expected to fetch in the region of $1 million, totaled $1,530,400 and was 95 percent sold by value, 90 percent by lot. Twelve new world auction records were set during the afternoon, including those for Avedon, Penn, Mapplethorpe and Cartier-Bresson. The second highest selling lot in the photographs sale was Robert Mapplethorpe’s “American Flag,” 1987, which went to a European private buyer for $352,000. The price set a world auction record for the photographer. Diane Arbus’ “A family on evening in a nudist camp, Pa.,” 1965, brought $307,200 from the American trade, while Alfred Stieglitz’s portrait of Georgia O’Keeffe, circa 1919, sold for $240,000. Rounding out the sale’s top ten were Diane Arbus, “Xmas tree in a living room in Levittown, L.I.,” 1963, $204,000; Edward Steichen, “Lotus, Mount Kisco, N.Y.,” 1915, printed 1920s, $168,000; William Eggleston, “Huntsville, Alabama,” 1969, $120,000; William Eggleston, “Southern Suite,” 1981, $96,000; Irving Penn, “Pablo Picasso at ‘La Californie’, Cannes,” 1957, printed 1974, $90,000; and Man Ray, “Solarization (Nude Torso),” 1947, $84,000. Prices reported include buyer’s premium. For information, 212-636-2000 or www.Christies.com.
06 Dec 2005 / 0 Comment
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