The sales of Photographs and The Range of Light: Photographs by Ansel Adams achieved a combined total of $6,375,563/£3,825,338/€4,654,161
Photographs totaled $4,230,687 when The Range of Light: Photographs by Ansel Adams totaled $2,144,875)
The top lot was Lot 6 | Ansel Adams (1902-1984), Winter Sunrise, Sierra Nevada from Lone Pine, California, 1941, gelatin silver mural print, flush-mounted on a layered wooden panel, printed 1961 | Price Realized: $545,000
The top 10 lots were monopolized by three photographers: Ansel Adams who gets the top 3 spots as well as the tenth position when Irving Penn has 5 photographs in the top 10; Richard Avedon’s Nastassja Kinski and the Serpent realized a price of $137,000.
Laura Paterson, Photographs Specialist, New York, remarked: “We are very pleased with the results of the dedicated auction of photographs by Ansel Adams. The strong prices achieved by the sale are indicative of the demand for the artist’s extremely rare and technically flawless mural prints.”
Philippe Garner, International Head of Photographs and the sale’s Auctioneer, continued: “The Photographs auction saw enthusiasm from the international marketplace that ranged across period and style. Artists whose work commanded particularly strong prices included Irving Penn, Francesca Woodman and Desiree Dolron. We were also delighted by the success of the works from the David C. and Sarajean Ruttenberg Arts Foundation, which realized a combined total of $401,063. This selection of works was led by Richard Avedon’s Nastassja Kinski and the Serpent, Los Angeles, California, June 14, 1981, which realized $137,000.”
