Photography Auction Important Collection of European Photographs

An interesting auction sale of photographs will be held at Sotheby’s Paris on November 10th at 5 PM. It is a rare occasion to buy quality photographs from a European collection undertaken over 15 years ago. Simply put, prints of most of these iconic images, examples of which are in major private or institutional collections, are no longer available on the market today.

The collector, who wishes to remain anonymous, assembled these works over many years with a particular attention to image and object quality. Among the artists represented, are some of the major names in photography like Robert Mapplethorpe, Irving Penn, Helmut Newton, William Eggleston or Robert Frank. Practically every printing technique is featured : gelatin silver or platinum for black and white and cibachrome, dye-transfer or C-prints for color. The majority of the works were acquired at auction or through galleries. The sharp eye of Parisian gallerist Thierry Marlat contributed tremendously.

In fact, special attention should be paid to the photographs by Irving Penn, for whom Thierry Marlat was the first exclusive French gallery. Penn, who appreciated the choice of images of his Paris dealer, always selected sumptuous prints for him, up until the last exhibition during the artist’s lifetime: Banquet. Several still lives (including the cover of the sale catalogue) and the portrait of Picasso, were featured in the 2009 show.

Online catalogue : http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2017/importante-collection-europeenne-de-photographies-pf1745.html