PFA
Newsletter
Photography in the Fine Arts Quarterly
Vol 27 No.1 January 2010
Vintage
Deja Vu
January 15 - February 27, 2010
The
Camera Obscura Gallery presents a veritable collection of photographs
encompassing the early history of the medium from the Gallery collection.
The exhibition includes several of the most notable first practitioners
such as William Henry Fox Talbot, Nadar, Julia Margaret Cameron, Carleton
Watkins, and William Henry Jackson, as well as the masters of early
20th Century photography, including Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Weston,
Paul Strand, Manuel Alvarez Bravo and Andre Kertesz.
Gallery I (north) will feature 19th Century photographs and will include
a rare 1841 salt-print by William Henry Fox Talbot as well as other
early photographic processes such as albumen, platinum
and photogravure by Edward S. Curtis, Mathew Brady, and Timothy O. Sullivan.
Another intriguing and extraordinary piece on exhibition is a photograph
by Francois Aubert of Emperor Maximilian in his coffin made shortly
after his execution in 1867. The exhibit will also include several examples
of daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, stereoscopes and other early
photographic print-making techniques.
Gallery II (south) will exhibit early and mid 20th Century work by such
stellar artists as Cecil Beaton, Philippe Halsman, Berenice Abbott,
Barbara Morgan, Ernest Knee and Bauhaus genius Herbert Bayer, along
with several local interest photographers including Dr. B.J. Oschner
of Durango and Denverite Robert Officer-whose pictorial nude studies
were published in the 1930's Denver Post Sunday Rotogravure section.
Of special note in this portion of the show is a rare, one-only vintage
print by Brett Weston. We will also display several images made by lesser
known master photographers, such as Wellington Lee, Harry Shigata, Maurice
Tabard and others.
HAPPENINGS
Photo la
The 19th Annual International Los Angeles Photographic Art Exposition
will be held from January 14-17 at Santa Monica Civic. Events include
portfolio reviews, collecting seminars, exhibitions and lectures. Visit
www.photola.com for more information.
The Photography Show New York
The Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD) has
announced their annual New York Photography Show will be held March
18-21. at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City. Visit www.aipad.com
to learn more.
FOTOFEST 2010
Houston's
celebrated month-long photography festival, FOTOFEST, will be held from
March 12 through April 1. Visit www.fotofest.org to learn more.
NYPH
10
The
New York Photo Festival is scheduled for May 12-16. The third annual
festival will be held at the Brooklyn waterfront community of DUMBO
and will also expand its programming and pre-festival activities into
other parts of the city. Visit www.nyphotofesival.com for information.
Madrid Foto
In May, the city of Madrid, Spain will celebrate MADRIDFOTO, its Photography
fair orientated to show the diversity of expressions and tendencies
of contemporary photography. Visit www.madridphoto.com for dates and
information.
SPE
2010
The
Society for Photographic Education will hold their 47th National Conference
in Philadelphia from March 4-7. This year's theme is "Facing Diversity:
Leveling the Playing Field in the Photographic Arts". The conference
includes 41 lectures, panels and image-maker presentations, 13 industry
seminars and demo sessions, over 60 exhibitions, plus many special events.
Visit www.spenational.org
Calls for Entries
"
Center for Fine Art Photography:
www.c4fap.org
"
Working With Artists:
www.workingwithartists.org
"
Open Shutter Gallery:
www.openshuttergallery.com
IN MEMORIAM
Charis Wilson
(1914-2009)
Charis
Wilson, model, lover and later wife of renowned photographer Edward
Weston, died at age 95.
Although she was most known as Weston's muse and model, Charis Wilson
also served as his secretary, driver, manager and accountant. An accomplished
writer, she wrote much of the text for his books of photographs from
the mid-1930s to 1940s.
Roy DeCarava
(1919-2009)
Celebrated
Harlem photographer Roy DeCarava passed away in October at the age of
89.
Initially trained as a painter, DeCarava eventually abandoned his brush
for a camera after using the medium of photography for his work in print-making.
He began his studies through a scholarship in Art and Architecture at
the Cooper Union School of Art, but after facing racist attitudes from
white students, he transferred to the Harlem Community Arts Center.
He worked on several WPA signs before serving in WWII.
DeCarava's intimate photographs of life in Harlem would remain mostly
unseen by the art world for decades, even though they had gained the
attention of Edward Steichen, then curator of photography at the Museum
of Modern Art, who included his work in the renowned 1955 Family of
Man exhibition. DeCarava went on to photograph the luminaries of the
Jazz scene, such as Billie Holiday, John Coltrane and Duke Ellington.
In 1952 he was the first black photographer to receive a Guggenheim
Fellowship, which allowed him to continue to capture everyday life in
Harlem.
DeCarava worked as a freelance photographer and taught at Hunter College,
where he became Professor of Art. In 1996, the Museum of Modern Art
held a major retrospective of his work, and in 2006 he was awarded the
National Medal for Arts.
EXHIBITIONS
Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, 303.298.7554. Call for current show
information.
Singer Gallery, Denver, 303.316.6360, Spittin Image: Ten Artists Consider
Their Children, through Jan 17.
Flash Gallery, Lakewood, CO, 303.837.1341 Call for current show information.
The Center for Fine Art Photography, Ft. Collins, CO, 970.224.1010,
Motion, March 13-April 17.
Open Shutter Gallery, Durango, CO Travel, through Jan 20.
SF Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, The View From Here, Jan 16 -
June 27.
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA, Diana Thater: Butterflies
and Other People, through Jan 31.
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, In Focus: The Worker, through March
21.
Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA Beloved Daughters: Photographs
by Fazal Sheikh, through Jan 31.
Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, AZ, John Gutmann: the Photographer
at Work, through Jan 31.
Monroe Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, On the Town, through Jan 31.
International Center of Photography, NYC, Twilight Visions: Surrealism,
Photography and Paris; Miroslav Tichy; Alan B. Stone and the Senses
of Place; and Atget: Archivist of Paris, all Jan 29-May 9.
Keith De Lellis Gallery, NYC, In Front of St. Patrick's Cathedral, through
Feb 20.
Gitterman Gallery, NYC, Ferenc Berko, through Jan 23.
Museum of Modern Art, NYC, New Photography 2009, through Jan 11.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, Playing with Pictures: The Art of Victorian
Photocollage, Feb 2-May 9.
George Eastman House, Rochester, NY, How do We Look; What We're Collecting
Now; and Picturing Rochester, all through Jan 24.
Auction Report
2009 was a topsy-turvy year for the New York City auctions. However,
instead of being discouraged by the results of the spring sales, the
auction houses put together an amazing collection of 1,100 important
images for the fall sales, of which 727 sold for $10,470,949.
Christie's especially was instrumental in this turn-about by offering
four sales that generated $5,881,400, and Sotheby's offered a large
sale of 243 lots, of which 192 sold for $3,571,754. An interesting factor
of these sales was the reasonably low estimates, such as Robert Doisneau's
The Kiss, that had an estimate of $7,000-10,000, sold for $17,000. Also
there were several lots offered without reserve, including Robert Mapplethorpe,
Richard Avedon and Helmut Newton, whose well known Sie Kommen (undressed)
was offered without reserve, est. $40,000-60,000, sold for $20,000,
and his group of 5 Domestic Nude Studies, with no reserve sold for $11,000,
an absolute bargain. Also the Peter Lindberg photograph of Mick Jagger
was offered at no reserve, selling for $16,000 on an estimate of $30,000-60,000.
Swann's did not have a sale in October; they elected to offer a large
two-part sale on December 8th. And then Christie's came back with a
small sale on December 7th offering 188 lots, of which 138 sold for
$966,750. Top lots were: Ansel Adams (1902-1984) Portfolio Four: What
Majestic Word, In Memory of Russell Varian, est. $50,000-70,000, sold
for $60,000; Ansel Adams Special Edition of Fine Prints of Yosemite,
est. $20,000-30,000, went for $40,000; Joel Peter Witkin (b. 1939) Still
Life, Marseilles 1992, est. $8,000-12,000, brought $21,250; Irving Penn
(1917-2009) Saul Steinberg in Nose Mask, 1960, est. $10,000-15,000,
sold for $20,000; Richard Avedon (1923-2004) Babe Paley, 1960, est.
$10,000-15,000, went for $17,500; Steve McCurry (b. 1950), Afghan Girl,
est. $5,000-7,000, sold for $7,200.
Swann's sale on December 8 started with Part I: Photographic Literature
(many book collectors were happy with this sale). 208 lots were offered.
Top lots were: Francis Frith, Egypt, 100 stereographs, sold for $10,200;
Camera Work #20, brought $6,000; India, Tree and Serpent Worship, went
for $5,040; Robert Frank, Lines of My Hand, sold for $4,800; Berenice
Abbott American Photographs, sold at $4,560; David Heath Dialogue with
Solitude, brought $4,560; Kazuo Kenmochi Narcotic Photograph Document,
went for $4,560; Shomei Tomatsu Nagasaki 11:02, sold for $4,560; Yutaka
Takanashi Toshi-e, sold at $4,080; and Paul Strand The Mexican Portfolio
2, brought $3,360. Others of note were Henri Cartier Bresson The Decisive
Moment, sold at $2,880; Man Ray Photographs, Paris 1920-1934, brought
$1,440; and Andre Kertesz Day of Paris, sold for $2,040.
Part II in Swann's sale, Fine Photographs, offered 214 lots. Top sales
were: Ansel Adams Moonrise Over Hernandez, NM, October 31, 1941, silver
print 13x17" mounted to period board, signed in pencil on mount
on the recto and his signature, Yosemite National Park, California hand
stamp, title and inscription, For Val Sara! 1948-At last!!! in ink on
mount verso, 1941, printed 1948, est. $ 350,000-450,000, sold for $360,000;
Ansel Adams Moonrise, 15 ¼ x 19 ¼ ", printed early
1960s, est. $30,000-40,000, went for $48,000; Walker Evans (1903-1975)
select group of 36 photographs FSA and Fortune Assignments: American
Photographs for Walker Evans First and Last 1978 and WE at Work 1982,
est. 5,000-7,500, sold for $19,200; alfred Eisenstaedt (1898-1995),
Premier at La Scala, Milan, 1933, printed 1995, est. $12,00-18,000,
went for $16,800; Dave Heath (b. 1931), Washington Square, 1958, est.
$6,000-9,000, sold for $16,800.
Including the two late comers, the total sales for the fall auctions
amounted to $12,566,988. Not bad considering the times. An interesting
side light: In Christie's December 7th sale, the first five lots were
Edward Weston nude studies of Charis Wilson printed by Cole Weston,
including Nude in Doorway, Nude on the Dunes, etc., The five prints
sold above estimates for a total of $28,125. Only a few years ago Weston
photographs printed by Cole were never on the auction market and were
selling for $500 each.
Quarterly Quotes
"…I
then thought of trying again a method which I had tried many years before.
This method was to take a camera obscura and to throw the image of the
objects on a piece of paper in its focus - fairy pictures, creations
of a moment, and destined as rapidly to fade away. It was during these
thoughts that the idea occurred to me - how charming it would be if
it were possible to cause these natural images to imprint themselves
durably, and remained fixed upon the paper…. One advantage of the
discovery of the Photographic Art will be, that it will enable us to
introduce into our pictures a multitude of minute details which add
to the truth and reality of the representation, but which no artist
would take the trouble to faithfully copy from nature."
William
Henry Fox Talbot
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