After the autumn auctions, the photography auctions are back. Christie's NY presents 204 lots, rare images of great artists, including Edward Weston, Ansel Adams and more: a real roundup of breathtaking works.
Top Lot: ROBERT FRANK (B.1924) – TROLLEY – NEW ORLEANS, 1955 Estimate $400,000 – $600,000
A 1955 work, gelatin-silver print, mounted on masonite (29 x 42,4 cm).
“Trolley – New Orleans” is a stunning portrait of a common late 1955 scene in the deep south of the United States, the photograph was taken, in nearby Montgomery, Alabama on exactly December 1, 1955. A black woman, Rosa, is immortalized Parks, who sat on the bus refusing to give up her seat to a white man. This small event sparked a year-long bus boycott and launched the civil rights movement.
Robert Frank was very attentive and sensitive to this type of event and to what was happening in those years in the States, also for this reason he is considered one of the most important photographers of the 20th century. ” (Stuart Alexander, 'Robert Frank,' in Haworth-Booth, ed., from the Folio Society book of the 100 greatest photographs, The Folio Society, 2006, p. 158)
Robert Frank exhibited this print in 1961 for his one-man show with Harry Callahan at the Museum of Modern Art, the last show Edward Steichen organized before his retirement in 1962.
It is the only print of this image left in private hands and the only copy printed by Frank himself.
Sarah Greenough, curator of the photography department at the National Gallery of Art, where Frank's archive is based, described the prints on display at MoMA as: “a lush and comprehensive array. The images reveal the nuances of light that Frank had so succinctly captured… the author wanted to demonstrate to his critics that his works did not have a meaning of sadness, hatred or disgust, but wanted to express a concept of love.
In addition, there are other beautiful images in the catalog, such as:
IRVING PENN (1917-2009) – WOMAN IN MOROCCAN PALACE (LISA FONSSAGRIVES-PENN), MARRAKECH, 1951 Estimate $300,000 – $500,000
WILLIAM EGGLESTON (B. 1939) – GREENWOOD, MISSISSIPPI, 1973 Estimate $150,000 – $250,000
ANSEL ADAMS (1902-1984) – ASPENS, NORTHERN NEW MEXICO, 1958 Estimate $100,000 – $150,000
EDWARD WESTON (1886-1958) – MEXICO (TINA ON THE AZOTEA), 1924 Estimate $100,000 – $150,000
VIK MUNIZ (B. 1961) – INDIVIDUAL Estimate $100,000 – $150,000
WILLIAM EGGLESTON (B. 1939) – UNTITLED (MEMPHIS), 1971 Estimate $80,000 – $120,000
IRVING PENN (1917-2009)- GINGKO LEAVES, NEW YORK, 1990 Estimate $80,000 – $120,000
SANTE D'ORAZIO (B. 1956) – WFP GRID #1, 2010 Estimate $80,000 – $120,000
IRVING PENN (1917-2009) – 4 GUEDRAS (MOROCCO), 1971 Estimate $70,000 – $90,000
EDWARD WESTON (1886-1958) – SHELL, 1927 Estimate $70,000 – $90,000
IRVING PENN (1917-2009) – MOUTH, FOR L'OREAL (B), NEW YORK, 1986 Estimate $70,000 – $90,000
