The Photographs sale at Bloomsbury Auctions on 10th November achieved some strong prices. The saleroom was packed and the viewing days had been busy.
Elliot Erwitt (b.1928) New York City, Coney Island, 1974 Gelatin silver print, printed later, signed lower right margin in black ink, signed, titled, dated and numbered on verso in pencil, 20x30cm (8x12in.) est. £800 – £1200 Sold for £3000
Amongst the early pieces of photography, the interesting 2 volumes (97 albumen prints) by the Moreau Brothers from around 1895 of Mali and Guinee (lot 18), with a handwritten dedication in French to the colonial head of Mali, made £3172 over double the lower estimate. Closer to home are the 26 extraordinary, anonymous albumen prints of Dundee circa 1091 (lot 40). This unusual collection of street scenes of the Greenmarket area, included a surprising picture of elephants walking down the road. Estimated at £1200-1500 these prints made a very healthy £5200 while lot 42 which consisted of five glass positive slides of interior shots of the Titanic, sold for £1830 over double the higher estimate (lot 42).
Amongst the highlights of the later photographs is the famous Sumo 1999 by Helmut Newton, which covered almost every aspect of Newton’s outstanding career. Selling for £8540 against an estimate of £2000-3000 this was still in its original packaging (lot 58). Thurston Hopkins’ iconic La Dolce Vita, Knightsbridge of 1953 (lot 92) made £2196 almost double the higher estimate. New York City, Coney Island 1953 (lot 126) also fared extremely well, selling for £3660 (estimate £800-1200) and lot 222 Irving Penn’s beautiful Lily Meldridge, went for £15860.
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