By Olivia Cuccaro
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but when it’s up for auction at Christie’s, it’s worth a few hundred thousand dollars too. The renowned auction house has announced a lineup of photography sales this month offering iconic works from the Emily and Jerry Spiegel Collection, and Donald and Alice Lappé Collection, as well as from the Museum of Modern Art. Available photographs span from the mid-19th century through the early post-war period. Three live sales (Spiegel, Lappé and MoMA) will take place on October 10, while two online sales from MoMA (Pictorialism Into Modernism and Henri Cartier-Bresson) will run from October 5-12, 2017.
The various-owner MoMA sale is set to feature important works from Peter Beard (Orphaned Cheetah Cubs, Mweiga, near Nyeri, Kenya, March 1938), known for his focus on Africa and its wildlife, controversial artist Robert Mapplethorpe (Flag, 1987) and fashion, still life and portrait photographer Irving Penn (Poppy: Glowing Embers, New York, 1968).
The succeeding Visionaries: Photographs from the Emily and Jerry Spiegel Collection sale will include modernist Paul Strand’s Rebecca, New York, 1923 as well as surrealist Man Ray’s Dadaphoto, 1920.
The final sale of the day, Important Photographs from the Collection of Donald and Alice Lappé will showcase Magnolia Blossom, 1925 by legendary female photographer Imogen Cunningham and Betty in Her Attic, 1920 by modernist Edward Weston as sale highlights.
A preview of the works will be held from October 5 to 9 at Rockefeller Center in New York. Photographs Including Property from the Museum of Modern Art will take place at 10am (Lots 101-211), Visionaries: Photographs from the Emily and Jerry Spiegel Collection at 2pm (Lots 1-40) and Important Photographs from the Collection of Donald and Alice Lappé at 6pm (Lots 301-367). For more information, please visit christies.com.