Prints and Photographs to be Offered at Bonhams & Butterfields in November
Published November 5th, 2007
A collection of more than 650 prints and fine photographs from trusts, estates, private collections and public institutions will be offered over two days November 6th and 7th in a Bonhams & Butterfields auction simulcast to Los Angeles and San Francisco. The sale will showcase quintessential works from artists Irving Penn, Diane Arbus, Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Pablo Picasso, Edward Weston and John James Audubon, among many others.
The auction opens with two sessions on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2007 featuring prints. Old Masters traditionally begin the sale, including etchings and engravings by Piranesi, Dürer and Rembrandt, including the master’s Self-Portrait in a Cap and Scarf, estimated to bring $10,000 to $12,000. These are followed by 19th century and Modern prints, highlighted by Hooping Crane after John James Audubon. This beautiful print, made circa 1834, is a desirable example of Audubon’s expertise, expected to bring $60,000 to $80,000. Multiple examples of works by regionalists Grant Wood and Thomas Hart Benton are to be offered, along with woodcuts by Gustave Bauman and MC Escher’s Belvedere, 1958, estimated at $14,000 to $18,000. There are 14 prints by Marc Chagall, including the vibrant Blue Profile (est. $10/15,000) and Circus with the Yellow Clown (est. $5,500/6,500).
Picasso enthusiasts will appreciate the 26 prints on offer, with the wonderfully playful Minotaure Caressant une Femme (Minotaur Caressing a Woman) expected to bring between $25,000 and $30,000. As well, Picasso’s aquatint Fumeur is estimated at $15,000 to $20,000. Fellow Spaniard Joan Miró is represented with his print Gaudi XXI (a tribute to the famous architect) which is estimated at $25,000 to $35,000.
Other 20th century gems include works by Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. A wonderful sculptural piece by Rauschenberg entitled Publicon Station 1 will be offered, from an edition of 30, this piece combines wood, silk, cotton and aluminum and is estimated at $10,000 to $15,000. Figure 8 from Johns’ famous Black Numeral Series (est. $10/15,000) is expected to attract collector interest. Andy Warhol’s silkscreen of Marilyn Monroe (est. $60/80,000) is always a bidder favorite, her iconic image is accompanied by two Mick Jagger Warhol prints on offer (each est. $20/30,000), as well as three other silkscreens by the artist.
Irving Penn’s Orientalist masterpiece Woman in Moroccan Palace from 1951 ushers in the photography portion of the two-day sale on Wednesday, Nov. 7. The image depicts Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn, the wife and muse of the famed fashion photographer, enrobed in a North African costume, complete with a white turban. She sits on woven rugs within a beautifully tiled alcove alongside accoutrements for a traditional tea service. This iconic image is estimated to bring $225,000-300,000, and three other Penn photographs should also delight bidders.
Like Penn, Ansel Adams is noted for encapsulating dramatic settings, doing so through incredible landscapes. Clearing Winter Storm from the Yosemite National Park series (est. $25/35,000) brilliantly displays the forces of nature with a stark composition of land and sky. Along with that gelatin silver print, the sale will feature two other works from the same series by Adams, Bridal Veil Falls and Cathedral Peak. His Moonrise, Hernadez, New Mexico, 1941, could bring $25,000 to $35,000 as well.
Famous portrait photographer Diane Arbus is featured with seven works, including some of the more quirky characters who sat for her. Mrs. T. Charlton Henry (est. $8/10,000) presents the frailty behind New England aristocracy while Patriotic Young Man with Flag (est. $15/20,000) displays the idealism inherent in prepubescent patriotism. Triplets in Their Bedroom (est. $15/20,000) conveys the conformity present in 1960s suburban New Jersey. According to Dept. Director Judith Eurich, “These photographs are significant in that they demonstrate what Arbus does best — capturing the humanity behind the archetype.”
Nicholas Nixon similarly captures such humanity, especially when his subjects are his own family. Since 1975, Nixon has been photographing his wife Bebe and her three younger sisters for his series titled The Brown Sisters, an example of which is offered in November with an estimate of $5,000-7,000. Another celebrated portrait photographer, Ruth Bernhard, is represented in the beautiful Perspective II (est. $7/9,000) as well as four other Bernhard photos, including Knees and Arm (est. $4/6,000), Angel Wings and In the Box, Horizontal, 1962, which could bring as much as $20,000.
Other notable lots include Siphnos by Henri Cartier Bresson (est. $10/15,000) and two photographs by American photographer and photojournalist Weegee — Shorty the Bowery Cherub from 1943 (est. $3,500-5,500) and Easter Sunday in Harlem from 1940 (est. $4,500-6,500). As well, a selection of works by Manuel Alvarez Bravo come to auction, including his portrait of Frida Kahlo from the 1930s (est. $5,500-7,500). A Hockney photocollage of the Grand Canyon, Edward Weston’s Pepper (est. $5,500-7,500) and Robert Mapplethorpe’s Amaryllis (est. $6/8,000) connect the organic forms shared by all natural bodies, flora and fauna alike.
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