NEW YORK FALL AUCTIONS: DRAMATIC INCREASES IN ARBUS AND WESTON PRICES

摘要

New York's series of fall photography auctions began on October 16 with Phillips' second sale of pictures from the collection of Washington, D.C.'s Joshua P. Smith (Phillips' first Smith sale, devoted solely to color photographs, was held in 1999). A veritable "mixed bag" of pictures tracing Smith's enthusiasms, the sale was offered without reserves, which gave the room a wonderful boost of energy. The top price for a single photograph was the cover lot, one of He en Levitt's great Harlem pictures, which New York dealer Deborah Bell bought for $51,090, against stiff competition ($15-20,000 estimate). Manuel Alvarez Bravo took the sale's top price, but for a group of 11 later prints, which sold to the telephone for $95,600 (Lot 78, $20-30,000 estimate). Many private collectors searching for specific Bravo images grumbled about the fact that almost all were offered in group lots. And with the exception of the top lot, they all went to New York Latin American art dealer Ramis Barquet, who is planning a major Bravo exhibition. The photographer best represented in the sale was Lee Friedlander, and his positively brilliant Self Portrait from 1965 (Lot 197, $8-12,000 estimate) sold for a strong $23,900.