On Thursday, February 14, Swann Galleries will offer Icons & Images: Photographs & Photobooks, with spectacular examples of the medium representing a range of styles and technological advances, from mid-nineteenth century portraiture to contemporary photocollages.
The sale is led by a selection of 50 plates from Eadweard Muybridge’s groundbreaking series, Animal Locomotion, 1887. This collection of motion studies largely features the human form, as well as a menagerie of exotic animals. This precursor to film is estimated to sell between $30,000 and $45,000.
Among early photographs is a sixth-plate tintype of Edgar Allan Poe, after the “Traylor” daguerreotype, taken in 1849 just three weeks before the author’s death. The original daguerreotype was damaged and then lost; this rare tintype is expected to fetch between $10,000 and $15,000. Further highlights include an albumen print of General George A. Custer, taken in 1872 by J.A. Scholten ($4,000 to $6,000); a portrait of Walt Whitman in Brooklyn, attributed to painter Thomas Eakins in 1887, valued at $4,000 to $6,000; and a selection of stunning landscapes by Carleton E. Watkins and silver print microphotographs of snowflakes by Wilson A. Bentley.
Also featured is a run of rare orotones by Edward S. Curtis, many in their original frames, including The Rush Gatherer, 1910, and Chief of the Desert, Navajo, 1904 ($15,000 to $25,000 and $12,000 to $18,000, respectively). Further selections include portfolio 20 of The North American Indian, 1928, with 35 large-format photogravures of indigenous Alaskans, estimated at $8,000 to $12,000, and the rare portrait of Geronimo, Apache, valued at $5,000 to $7,500.
The sale features a run of lots relating to the space program, the highlight of which is a remarkable gathering of 22 large prints selected from NASA’s Archives for a 1985 exhibition at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum titled Sightseeing: A Space Panorama. Astronauts approved the images, which had never before been published by NASA ($15,000 to $25,000). Also available is an archive of approximately 280 photographs depicting Apollo missions, estimated at $7,000 to $10,000. Further lots in this section include a series of ten photocollages of the moon, and a collection of 67 photographs documenting the moon landing as seen on national television ($5,000 to $7,500 and $4,000 to $6,000, respectively).
The auction will be held in New York on Thursday, February 14, beginning at 1:30 p.m. An illustrated auction catalogue will be available for $35 from Swann Galleries, Inc., 104 East 25th Street, New York, NY 10010, or online at www.swanngalleries.com.
Swann Auction Sale: Icons & Images: Photographs & Photobooks
February 14, 2017 – 1:30 pm
Swann Galleries
104 East 25th Street
New York, NY 10010
USA
http://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/asp/searchresults.asp?pg=1&sale_no=2436&st=D&
