Auctions | February 12, 2025

Roy DeCarava, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Ansel Adams Lead Swann's Fine Photographs Auction

Swann Galleries

Paul Strand, Wall Street, platinum-palladium print, 1915; printed 1984. Estimate $6,000 to $9,000.

Swann Galleries' February 13 Fine Photographs sale features a selection of 20th century images capturing urban, rural, and social settings.

Leading the way is Roy DeCarava’s Hallway, New York, a silver print from 1953 that was acquired directly from the artist (estimate $40,000 - $60,000). Other highlights include Robert Mapplethorpe’s Double Jack in the Pulpit (1988, estimate $40,000 - $60,000), August Sander’s Handlanger [Bricklayer], (1928, printed 1976, estimate $6,000 - $9,000), and Robert Adams’ Out a Front Window, Longmont, Colorado, from The New West (1968-71, estimate: $10,000 - $15,000).

Highlights from the 'New York Perspectives & Color Photography' section of the auction include:

  • Paul Strand’s platinum-palladium print Wall Street, New York, 1915, printed 1984 (estimate: $6,000 - $9,000)
  • Lee Friedlander’s New York City (Father Duffy, Times Square), 1974, printed 1980s (estimate: $4,000 - $6,000)
  • William Eggleston’s Untitled (In Case of Emergency), 1974 (estimate: $10,000 - $15,000)

Work by Bill Brandt, Graciela Iturbide, Josef Koudelka, Diane Arbus, Henri Cartier-Bresson (Behind the Gare St. Lazare, silver print, 1932; printed 1980s, estimate $12,000 to $18,000), and rare color photographs by Danny Lyon from his Bikeriders series, are among the works exploring the social landscape.

Elsewhere there are two color photographs by Gordon Parks and iconic landscapes by Ansel Adams including his Winter Sunrise, Sierra Nevada from Lone Pine, California silver print from 1944, printed 1963-70 (estimate $20,000 - $30,000).