Last Thursday, Swann Galleries in New York opened the season of photography auctions in New York. Out of the 269 lots proposed, 198 sold (74% sell-through rate by lot) for a total sale of $937,809 with Buyer’s Premium.
A large portion of the sale proposed the fine photographs and the photobook library of Bill Diodato.
The top lot (also from Diodato’s collection) was a suite of suite of 12 photographs titled “Industrial Facades.” by Bernd and Hilla Becher, the German husband-and-wife artist team, which was bought by a collector for a price of $125,000 with Buyer’s Premium.
Interestingly, out of the top 20 lots 18 were won by collectors and just two by dealers.
Also, among the top 20 lots, 4 established auction records for the artists (Lot 9 – Alexander Gardner, Lot 17 – Charles D. Arnold, Lot 3 – Francis Frith, Lot 81- Ernst Haas).
Daile Kaplan, Vice President and Director of Photographs & Photobooks, said, “The fine-art photography market continues to expand and reach a global network of active buyers, and the success of the Bill Diodato Library underscores the strength of the photobook marketplace.
“Notable photobook results include William Eggleston’s 2 ¼, 1999, which brought $6,750; Brassaï’s Paris de Nuit, 1933, which sold for $6,000 and Bill Brandt’s A Night in London, 1938, which achieved an auction record price of $5,750.”
