Ansel Adams’ National Park Portfolio Propels Photographs Auction to $585,000 at Heritage Auctions
NEW YORK—More than 200 lots of classic images realized more than $585,000 in Heritage Auctions’ spring Photographs Signature Auction May 3 in New York. Several works exceeded expectations, such as Terry O’Neill’s Faye Dunaway, Hollywood, 1977, which sold for $17,500, and Petit's Mobil Station, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, 1974, by George A. Tice, which sold for $12,500, against a $6,000 estimate.
However, works by prominent artists claimed the auction’s top lots, as in the case of Ansel Adams’ acclaimed Portfolio Two: The National Parks and Monuments—originally purchased directly from the artist in 1952—which sold for $37,500.
“This auction was punctuated with stellar examples with strong provenance to some of photography’s leading artists,” said Ed Jaster, Senior Vice President at Heritage Auctions. “Artworks by Richard Avedon remain strong and I was pleased to see bidders pursue works by Roman Vishniac and George A. Tice.”
Two images by Henri Cartier-Bresson, ?le de la Cité, 1952, which was purchased directly from the artist in 1996, and Rue Mouffetard, 1954, both sold for $25,000 each. Bert Stern’s Marilyn Monroe, The Last Sitting Portfolio (Ten Photographs), 1962, sold for $21,250.
Avedon’s 1956 portrait of Louis Armstrong—gifted to Philadelphia interior designer Harris Radin—sold for $16,875, against a $4,000 estimate, and Marian Anderson, 1955, and Vicomtesse Jacqueline de Ribes, New York, 1955, sold for $11,875 and $11,250, respectively.
Robert Mapplethorpe’s Roger in Fishnets, 1983, gifted to the current owner by the model and accompanied by a letter from the artist and the estate of the artist, sold for $13,750.
Roman Vishniac’s The Vanished World Portfolio (Twelve Photographs), 1936-38, a complete portfolio with colophon and linen case from a private New York collection, sold for $13,750.
Additional highlights include, and are not limited by:
A lot composed of Karsh: A Fifty-Year Retrospective along with a signed photography of Winston Churchill, 1983; 1941: Realized: $11,250.
The Mainbocher Corset, Paris, 1939, by Horst P. Horst: Realized: $7,500.
Perspective II, 1967, by Ruth Bernhard: Realized: $7,500.
Heritage Auctions is the largest auction house founded in the United States and the world’s third largest, with annual sales of more than $900 million, and 900,000+ online bidder members. For more information about Heritage Auctions, and to join and receive access to a complete record of prices realized, with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit HA.com.
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