Sotheby's, great photography up for auction

A succession of images that bring to mind life stories of the 900s, people, objects, environments of an era that now seems distant to us, yet the emotion that these photographs manage to give is decidedly unique, almost sublimates an intimate imaginary that each of us owns.

The work that has had the most success is by Edward Weston (1886-1958)- TWO SHELLS from 1927  (23.8 x 17.3cm.) - Estimate: 600,000 – 900,000 USD, sold for $533,000.

This rare and exquisite photograph print by Edward Weston, includes the definitive prior state of the image itself. Printed on matte paper affixed to a large support, the photograph precedes a numbered edition and is signed only by Weston and the date. Weston later switched to using paper with a glossy surface. We all remember him for his images of "shells" placed on a plane with a dark background, iconographically they represent his true signature,

Conger notes that this double image, placed in this auction, has been included in important exhibitions of Weston's, among them that at the Fine Arts Society of Seattle in 1928, the Delphic Gallery of New York in 1930, and the Morgan Camera Shop in Los Angeles in 1939. 

This photograph was for several decades owned by photography pioneer and collector James J. Rochlis (1916 – 2002), whose collection was offered beginning October 2003. One of Witkin Lee's most important clients in the early years of the Witkin's Gallery, was a successful entrepreneur of Chris-Craft Industries, who was also a true enthusiast of this technique.

From provenance notes, Rochlis and his wife Riva indicate that this print likely came from the collection of artist Rockwell Kent. as indicated in Weston's California DAYbook, we know that Weston corresponded with Kent as early as the spring of 1928. While, Creative Art magazine, for which Kent was an editor, published an article by Weston later that year, illustrated with a double photo shell like this (Conger 545).

The second awarded photograph is by Robert Frank (1924) HOBOKEN from 1955 (20.3 x 30.8 cm.) – Estimate: 150,000 – 250,000 USD – sold for $365,000  

And who has no memory of this splendid image? two windows that hide figures divided by the American flag waving almost in a motion of freedom.

This print was initially purchased by photographer and educator Sol Mednick (1916 – 1970). Born in Philadelphia, he immediately saw Frank's precocious passion and took him first to the Philadelphia College of Art, and later to the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art. And so, in 1951, he began teaching photography at the Philadelphia College of Art, his time between teaching and working as a freelance photographer. His work, commissioned and paid for by various clients, allowed him to teach his students the different skills they would need to become successful and marketable professionals. Under his stewardship, the Philadelphia College of Art, now the University of the Arts, grew into a full-fledged photography department, which nurtured talent for film, television, and sound. We also remember him as a founding member of the Society for Photographic Educators. Among the photographers there will be personalities including Robert Frank, Diane Arbus, Eugene Atget, and Brett Weston.

In 1966 Mednick donated a group of these photographs to the Philadelphia College of Art and when it realized it was impossible for the college to preserve, manage and insure works of this value, the collection began to be auctioned. The photograph offered here was among that group.

Several top lots follow:

FRANTISEK DRTIKOL with 

COMPOSITION' (NUDE WITH CIRCLES)