An unprecedented photography collection with a single subject “le mani” the next one will be auctioned December 12-13 in New York at Sotheby's.
The catalog “A Show of Hands: Photographs from the Collection of Henry Buhl” presents photographs that consecrate the hands as a vehicle of emotion, a metaphor of the human condition but also an expression of movement and the emotion of the gesture. A fantastic journey of over 400 images from the late 1800s to the present day, images and celebrities immortalized by well-known international photographers.
Shots that enter history and describe moments that bring to mind that strange emotion that makes us relive, even if only for a second, something that suddenly becomes a flash of sublime reality from the imaginary.
Surely, in recent years the market has seen an ever greater interest both in one-of-a-kind works and in multiple-example photographs, as far as the contemporary section is concerned. A demonstration are the various appointments that are presented by almost all the auction houses on the market.
Top lots for this New York auction dedicated to hands, is a work by Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946) which portrays the hands of Georgia O'Keeffe – Hand and thimble, printed between 1920 and 1930 (24x19cm) estimate 624,702-937,053 EUR.
They follow:
Jeff Wall (1946) Rear, 304 W.25 AVE., May 20, 1997, 1.14 & 1.17 PM one of two 1997 editions (229,2×349,6 cm) estimate 468,526-624,702 EUR.
Andreas Gursky (1955) May Day II edition 3 of 6 from 1998 (148.6×189.2 cm) estimate 390,438-546,614 EUR.
Herbert Bayer (1900-1985) Lonely Metropolitan from 1932 (41×30cm) estimate 234,263-390,438 EUR.
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy (1895-1946) frame from 1925 (24×18cm) estimate 234,263-390,438 EUR.
El Lissitzky (1890-1941) The builder from 1924 (7,7×8,8cm) estimate 234,263-390,438 EUR.
Man Ray (1890-1976) Rayograph with hand, lens, and egg from 1922 (24×17,9cm) estimate 195,219-273,307 EUR.
Gilbert & George (1943 & 1942) Black gargoyles 1/12 of 1980 (60,3×49,5) estimate 156,175-234,263 EUR.
John Baldessari (1931) Five Male Thoghts (one frontal) from 1990-96 (63,5×198,1 cm) estimate 117,131-195,219 EUR.
Many other authors present in the catalogue:
Berenice Abbott, Vito Acconci, Annie Leibovitz, Richard Avedon, Lillian Bassman, Peter Beard, Anton Bruehl, Wynn Bullock, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Maurizio Cattelan, Gordon Coster, Bruce Davidson, Imogen Cunningham, Gordon Duglas, Pedro Guerrero, Pete Hujar, Danny Lyon, Vik Muniz etc..
