The 20th century saw some of the most truly distinguished photographers of our time. From Richard Avedon conquering the fashion scene to Nan Goldin touching us with her intimate photographs of herself and her friends, there are multiple photographers who have shaped our worldview. To honor these stalwarts, Christie’s hosted a spring photography auction in New York, whose results have just come in. As the title suggests, two photographers, Ansel Adams and Alfred Stieglitz, became instant stars of the show.
Titled Photographs, the auction included the works of 108 artists, and about a total of 222 lots. After a gruelling session, Ansel Adams’ Portfolio Two: The National Parks and Monuments, 15 Photographs ended up fetching $176,400, while the original estimate was between $40,000 and $60,000. He also sold 10 other works, including Maroon Bells, near Aspen, Colorado, 1951, and Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941, which were sold for an additional $ 226.8 K.
On the other hand, Alfred Steiglitz’s pictorial image The Hand of Man, 1902, fetched the same as Adams’s $176,400, while its original estimate was $70,000 to $90,000. He also sold a second image, Eleonora Duse, 1904, a portrait of a woman, which fetched $100,800.
While the numbers are great, it is still not the highest record. Adams’ work was sold for close to a million dollars back in 2020 at Sotheby’s, while a lot of 96 images by the photographer sold for $4.6 million last year. Stieglitz may not be as famous when it comes to auctions, but in 2006, his work, Georgia O’Keeffe (Hands), ended up fetching $1.47 million.
In addition, Alexander Rodchenko’s image, Vladimir Mayakovsky, 1924, also secured $126,000, while the estimate was between $120,000 and $180,000. Similarly, Irving Penn‘s Woman in a Burlap Sack, New York, 2007 fetched $75,600, Richard Avedon’s image Rick Davis, Drifter, Interstate 94, Buffalo, North Dakota, July 13, 1982, sold for $75,600, and Robert Frank’s Trolley—New Orleans, 1955, went under $69,300.
Some of the other artists who were part of this show were Man Ray, James Van Der Zee, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Peter Hujar. There were also a few contemporary photographers, such as Nick Brandt, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Richard Misrach, Wolfgang Tillmans, Dawoud Bey, Alison Rossiter, and Lynn Davis, whose works graced the lot.
In March, Christie’s had organized an AI-generated image auction, which was valued at $792,000. Naturally, there was a great backlash, but that did not bother the auction house. In comparison, the Photographs auction actually had a far higher sales estimate of the entire lot at $3,747,996. This gives us some hope that there are aficionados who care for human creativity. Perhaps, with the AI boom, we may see more inclination towards preserving human art and photography, far more than what we are currently seeing. You may call it wishful thinking, but it is a future that we deserve.
