October 16, 2017Swann NewsPhotographs & Photobooks Magnum Photographs: 70th Anniversary Read more about Magnum Photographs: 70th Anniversary Magnum Photos, founded as a cooperative agency in 1947, is perhaps the most well-known photographic collective in the world. Through the Magnum photographs included in our October 19 auction of Art…
Read more about Do You Speak Photography? October 10, 2017 Photographs & Photobooks Do You Speak Photography? This post was written by our Vice President and Director of Photographs & Photobooks, Daile Kaplan. Photography is ubiquitous in visual culture. Whether you prefer contemporary works by Alec…
Read more about Black and White All Over: The Riddle of Classical Photography August 17, 2017 Photographs & Photobooks Black and White All Over: The Riddle of Classical Photography The following was written by Vice President and Director of Photographs & Photobooks, Daile Kaplan: I love looking at photographs in both black-and-white and color iterations. Long before streaming…
Read more about Identifying Types of Photographic Prints August 11, 2017 Photographs & Photobooks Identifying Types of Photographic Prints Our Photographs & Photobooks department has put together a cheat sheet for identifying some of the more common types of photographs we handle. A cyanotype print is made by…
Read more about Daile Kaplan on The Thrill of Photographic Discovery July 14, 2017 Photographs & Photobooks Daile Kaplan on The Thrill of Photographic Discovery With the recent NPR coverage questioning whether an anonymous photograph actually depicts Amelia Earhart on a wharf in Jaluit Atoll, photography’s role as historic evidence is once again in the…
Read more about Records & Results: Images & Objects: Photographs & Photobooks April 23, 2017 Photographs & Photobooks Records & Results: Images & Objects: Photographs & Photobooks On Thursday, April 20, our sale ofImages & Objects: Photographs & Photobooks set multiple records for early and modern works, with 71% of works offered finding buyers. Nearly all…
Read more about William Bradford & The Arctic Regions April 19, 2017 Photographs & Photobooks William Bradford & The Arctic Regions The following are notes from the catalogue for our April 20 sale of Images & Objects: Photographs & Photobooks. William Bradford, a celebrated American painter, was also a…
Read more about Modern Daguerreotypes & More April 13, 2017 Photographs & Photobooks Modern Daguerreotypes & More While we live in a digital age, faced with a tsunami of photographs on all manner of devices, many modern artists have returned to the earliest photographic techniques. These were delicate, time-consuming…
Read more about Danny Lyon & New Photojournalism April 7, 2017 Photographs & Photobooks Danny Lyon & New Photojournalism The Photographs & Photobooks department contributed to this post on Danny Lyon’s eponymous portfolio in our April 20 auction of Images & Objects: Photographs & Photobooks. The New Journalism movement…
Read more about Edgar Allan Poe: Birthday & A Lost Photograph January 19, 2017 Photographs & Photobooks Edgar Allan Poe: Birthday & A Lost Photograph Today, on what would be Edgar Allan Poe’s 207th birthday, we take a look at an exceedingly rare and unusual lot in our upcoming sale of Icons & Images: Photographs…
Read more about Ed Ruscha: “I Want To Be The Henry Ford of Bookmaking” October 18, 2016 Photographs & Photobooks Ed Ruscha: “I Want To Be The Henry Ford of Bookmaking” Edward Ruscha is a pioneer of the American photobook. Between 1962 and 1978 he produced no fewer than sixteen artist’s books, fourteen of which will be offered as a lot in Swann Galleries’…
Read more about The First Auction of Photographs in the United States February 24, 2016 Photographs & Photobooks The First Auction of Photographs in the United States February 14, 1952 Much has changed over the course of our 75-year history here at Swann Galleries, from new departments to the expansion our exhibition space. One small but…
Read more about Vernacular Imagery, Photobooks & Fine Photographs December 18, 2014 Photographs & Photobooks Vernacular Imagery, Photobooks & Fine Photographs Swann’s second sale devoted to Vernacular Photography showed the strength of this growing segment of the photo market, with strong results for esoteric material. The top vernacular lot was…
Read more about The Hall-Harte Archive of Suffragist Photographs December 3, 2014 Photographs & Photobooks The Hall-Harte Archive of Suffragist Photographs We are delighted to offer a suffragist archive of rare and important photographs documenting “The Liberty Bell Tour, Votes for Women.” The march was organized by Louise Hall and her life-partner Ethel…
Read more about O. Winston Link: A Turbulent Past October 15, 2014 Photographs & Photobooks O. Winston Link: A Turbulent Past O. Winston Link’s photographs have infused Swann’s Photograph Department auctions with a consistent, quiet power for years, but lot 175 brings a new dramatic force to the October 17, 2014…
Read more about Nick Brandt, Activist-Photographer: “I Stick with Nature” August 29, 2014 Photographs & Photobooks Nick Brandt, Activist-Photographer: “I Stick with Nature” The delicate condition of the natural world is vividly brought to life by Nick Brandt, who organized the Big Life Foundation to protect wild animals in East Africa. This British…
Read more about Records & Results: Vernacular Photographs April 21, 2014 Photographs & Photobooks Records & Results: Vernacular Photographs Last week Swann Galleries held an auction devoted to Vernacular Photography, which was the first sale of its kind. Two items led the auction–bringing $22,500 each–and they could not…
Read more about Avery Willard Model Visits Swann April 15, 2014 Photographs & Photobooks Avery Willard Model Visits Swann New discoveries are often made during our auction previews. Sometimes a guest will identify a place depicted in a work of art, or recognize a name in an inscription. One…
Read more about Gay New York March 28, 2014 Photographs & Photobooks Gay New York Among the highlights of our April 17, 2014 auction of Vernacular Photography is a small archive of photographs and ephemera relating to cross-dressing and gay rights in New York City…
Read more about Cyanotypes: Into the Blue March 25, 2014 Photographs & Photobooks Cyanotypes: Into the Blue The cyanotype or blueprint process has a poetic quality that embodies a painterly aesthetic and is defined by particular visual characteristics, in this case, a distinctive and rich “prussian blue”…
Read more about What is vernacular photography? March 24, 2014 Photographs & Photobooks What is vernacular photography? What is vernacular photography? According to our director of Photographs & Photobooks Daile Kaplan, it is photography taken for the sake of the photograph.
Read more about They’re All Ears: Folsom Prison Mugshots February 26, 2014 Photographs & Photobooks They’re All Ears: Folsom Prison Mugshots Before the system of identifying individuals by fingerprint was developed, the authorities relied on the distinct, intricate hollows and folds of a person’s ear in order to positively link them…
Read more about The Photobook Library of Bill Diodato: An Eye on the American Scene February 19, 2014 Photographs & Photobooks The Photobook Library of Bill Diodato: An Eye on the American Scene The vast American scene has long captivated photographers. Some took to the road while others focused on the urban street. The portrait studio also emerged as a site of aesthetic…
Read more about The Photobook Library of Bill Diodato: Provocateurs & Innovators February 19, 2014 Photographs & Photobooks The Photobook Library of Bill Diodato: Provocateurs & Innovators As collector Bill Diodato knows, photography begins with the birth of the photobook. Long before the white wall or editioned print–and more than century before galleries and museums exhibited pictures–photographers…
Read more about Bill Diodato on Collecting February 12, 2014 Photographs & Photobooks Bill Diodato on Collecting On February 27, 2014, Swann will auction the Library of Bill Diodato, comprising an excellent assortment of photobooks and photographs. Diodato–a prominent commercial and fine-art photographer–shares his thoughts on collecting…
Read more about The Eighth Wonder of the World: The Brooklyn Bridge December 9, 2013 Photographs & Photobooks The Eighth Wonder of the World: The Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a monumental architectural triumph of New York City, constructed on May 24, 1883, which supports, to this day, the colossal weight of bridge-walkers, automobiles and its…
Read more about Mark Michaelson: Crime Becomes Collectible, Mugshots for Sale September 16, 2013 Photographs & Photobooks Mark Michaelson: Crime Becomes Collectible, Mugshots for Sale Murder and mayhem have long fascinated photographers and film aficionados, and are also inextricably linked with collectors of vernacular photography. But, how did the mugshot become a fine-art collectible? For…
Read more about Early Photographs of Asia from the Estate of Fong Chow February 5, 2013 Photographs & Photobooks Early Photographs of Asia from the Estate of Fong Chow Swann Galleries’ February 26, 2013 auction of Fine Photographs features several early photographic albums filled with images of Asia that come from the Estate of Fong Chow. Chow (1923-2012) was…
Read more about $1.44 Million for Edward S. Curtis’s The North American Indian October 5, 2012 Photographs & Photobooks $1.44 Million for Edward S. Curtis’s The North American Indian Yesterday Swann sold a complete set of Edward S. Curtis’s The North American Indian for $1,440,000–the highest priced item ever sold at New York’s premiere auction house for works on…
Read more about Ansel Adams in Color! March 22, 2012 Photographs & Photobooks Ansel Adams in Color! Known for his attention and passion for the technical aspects of print making, Ansel Adams became a consultant for Edwin Land and the Polaroid Corporation in 1948. He tested film…
Read more about Andy Warhol’s Index Book December 6, 2010 Photographs & Photobooks Andy Warhol’s Index Book Finely packaged and replete with surprises, Andy Warhol’s Index (Book), included in Thursday’s Important Photographs & Photobooks auction, introduces Warhol’s parallel themes of charming whimsy, and his brilliant upending of…
Read more about Irving Penn and Alexandra Beller November 30, 2010 Photographs & Photobooks Irving Penn and Alexandra Beller Irving Penn is associated with fine photographs of fashionable women. An innovative artist and master technician, Penn recognized that editorial photography was but one form of representation and moved effortlessly…
Read more about Feminism, Surrealism and the Theater in Claude Cahun’s Photographs November 23, 2010 Photographs & Photobooks Feminism, Surrealism and the Theater in Claude Cahun’s Photographs The majority of photographer Claude Cahun’s imagery is associated with the feminist Surrealist movement. Her artwork focuses on issues related to gender and identity, with a particular emphasis on sexual…
Read more about Yesterday’s Top Lots: Fine Photographs & Select Photobooks October 20, 2010 Photographs & Photobooks Yesterday’s Top Lots: Fine Photographs & Select Photobooks The Fine Photographs & Select Photobooks auction yesterday, October 19, 2010, saw much interest in a large selection of photojournalism, as well as a photograph by Annie Leibovitz of John…
Read more about Handmade John F. Kennedy Albums October 13, 2010 Photographs & Photobooks Handmade John F. Kennedy Albums As a boy, Robert A. Cumins, now a prominent photojournalist, was fascinated with President John F. Kennedy’s administration. A local newspaperman who knew of Cumins’s interest in JFK passed along…
Read more about Daile Kaplan on Ansel Adams & the Value of a Photograph August 24, 2010 Photographs & Photobooks Daile Kaplan on Ansel Adams & the Value of a Photograph With the unfolding story surrounding a box of photographic negatives discovered in California, which were originally reported to have been taken by esteemed photographer Ansel Adams, many questions have popped…
Read more about Gordon Matta-Clark: Walls Paper, Deconstructed May 18, 2010 Photographs & Photobooks Gordon Matta-Clark: Walls Paper, Deconstructed Gordon Matta-Clark, whose work is featured in the Photographic Literature portion of Thursday’s sale, brought an inspired and playful quality to his highly experimental and diverse art projects. All speak…
Read more about Imogen Cunningham’s Magnolia Blossom May 6, 2010 Photographs & Photobooks Imogen Cunningham’s Magnolia Blossom Imogen Cunningham’s life-long love for flora, combined with her keen understanding of line, textural contrast and lighting, bring forth the magnolia blossom’s pure form and soft sensuality through shadow and…
Read more about Alexey Brodovitch: Ballet April 30, 2010 Photographs & Photobooks Alexey Brodovitch: Ballet Both sections of the May 20, 2010 Photographic Literature and Important Photographs auction at Swann feature highlight items by Alexey Brodovitch, the late Harper’s Bazaar art director and photographer. Brodovitch’s…
Read more about Bill Clinton’s American Dream March 8, 2010 Photographs & Photobooks Bill Clinton’s American Dream President Bill Clinton discusses his idea of the American Dream in the introduction to our catalogue for The Stephen L. White Photograph Collection.
December 3, 2009 Photographs & Photobooks The Photobook and Conceptual Art Sol LeWitt, Autobiography, illustrated with more than 1,000 reproductions of LeWitt’s sequential photographs of his apartment and possessions, first edition, New York, 1980. Estimate $1,500 to $2,500. Conceptual Art first…
December 2, 2009 Photographs & Photobooks Ansel Adams’s ‘Moonrise’ at Auction December 2009 Ansel Adams’s position in the pantheon of master photographers is assured by his magisterial studies of the American landscape. Swann is pleased to offer Moonrise Over Hernandez in two iterations—a…
Read more about Lewis W. Hine, America’s First Photojournalist October 16, 2009 Photographs & Photobooks Lewis W. Hine, America’s First Photojournalist Among the highlights in our October 22, 2009 Photographs & Photographic Literature auction is a stunning array of 15 images by social reformer-cum-photographer, Lewis W. Hine. His photographs addressed issues…
Read more about William Henry Fox Talbot: Father of Modern Photography October 13, 2009 Photographs & Photobooks William Henry Fox Talbot: Father of Modern Photography Swann’s October 22 Photographs auction offers several salted paper prints by William Henry Fox Talbot, which date from the early days of photography. Depicted in lush brown tones and compelling…
October 5, 2009 Photographs & Photobooks Diane Arbus and the American Art Scene Among the highlights in our October 22 auction of Photographs & Photographic Literature are portraits by Diane Arbus of key figures in the American Art Scene for a 1966 story…
Read more about Cornelius Marion Battey Photographic Portraits Discovered September 16, 2009 African American Art Cornelius Marion Battey Photographic Portraits Discovered Our October 8, 2009 African-American Fine Art auction marks the first time that early photographer Cornelius Marion Battey’s photographic portraits will come to auction. These photographs were recently discovered in…