RESULTS: Sotheby's Spring 2008 Photographs Sales - April 7-8, 2008 Sotheby’s three spring sales of Photographs in New York on April 7-8th totaled $17,302,050 (est. $9/14 million*), with each sale far exceeding its individual high estimate.
News-Antique.com - Apr 14,2008 - SOTHEBY’S SPRING 2008 SALES OF PHOTOGRAPHS IN NEW YORK TOTAL $17,302,050
ALL THREE AUCTIONS EXCEED THE HIGH ESTIMATES
THE QUILLAN COLLECTION OF NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURY PHOTOGRAPHS Brings $8,901,350
Various-Owners Sale of PHOTOGRAPHS Achieves $6,870,325
EDWARD WESTON’S GIFTS TO HIS SISTER Realizes $1,530,375
Records Set for Edward Weston, Paul Strand, Diane Arbus and 22 others
New York, New York, April 8, 2008 – Sotheby’s three spring sales of Photographs in New York on April 7-8th totaled $17,302,050 (est. $9/14 million*), with each sale far exceeding its individual high estimate. This extraordinary season was highlighted by two single-owner sales: The Quillan Collection of Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Photographs, which brought $8,901,350 (est. $4.5/7 million), and Edward Weston’s Gifts to His Sister and Other Photographs, which achieved $1,530,375 (est. $900,000/1.4
million). A various-owners sale of Photographs also performed strongly, realizing $6,870,325 (est. $3.6/5.6 million). Records were set across the three sales for a total of 25 artists at auction, including Edward Weston, Paul Strand and Diane Arbus.
Denise Bethel, Senior Vice President and Director of Sotheby’s Photographs department in New York said: “This was an outstanding series of sales. The fine art photographs market has never been more vibrant. The response to great material, as evidenced by our overwhelming number of individual artists’ records, is as strong as ever. We offered 300 lots---and only 26 did not sell. Our total is a record for a Sotheby’s season of photographs sales.”
The Quillan Collection of Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Photographs – April 7, 2008
This evening sale put a spotlight on The Quillan Collection, the legendary, highly concentrated tour-de-force of 68 rare and unique images ranging in date from 1847 to 1985, assembled by Jill Quasha, a private photography dealer who specializes in building both public and private collections, on behalf of the Quillan Company, an investment group. The spectacular performance of the Collection far exceeded expectations, bringing $8,901,350 (est. $4.6/7 million) and setting records for eighteen artists at auction, including Edward Weston, when his Nude, from 1925 sold for $1,609,000 after a heated bidding battle (est. $600/900,000), and Paul Strand, whose Rebecca went for $645,800 (est. $600/900,000). Peter MacGill of the Pace-MacGill Gallery was the successful bidder for both record-breaking lots. Also among the top lots was August Sander’s Werkstudenten, from 1926, which surpassed its high estimate of $250,000 to achieve $493,000—again, a record for the artist at auction. Records were also set for Richard Avedon, Hans Bellmer, László Moholy-Nagy, Bill Brandt, Christian Schad, Edward S. Curtis, Henry Peach Robinson, Adam Clark Vroman, Louis de Clerq, Charles Marville, Francis Bruguiére, Francis Frith, Iller, Timothy O’Sullivan and William Henry Jackson.
Edward Weston’s Gifts to His Sister and Other Photographs – April 8, 2008
More than 40 photographs by Edward Weston and nine photographs by his son Brett were offered at this morning sale, all of which had remained with descendants of the Weston family since their making. The sale achieved $1,530,375 (est. $900/1.4 million), and the top lot was Nude on the Sand,
