A Grand Vision Auction Results, Feb 22

The first photography auction of the year has taken place with the sale of Ansel Adams photographs from investor David H. Arrington’s broad collection. The ‘A Grand Vision’ auction took place in New York on 17 February, bringing together 100 lots of Ansel images including famous prints such as Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park, CA; The Tetons and Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, WY; and Winter Sunrise, Sierra Nevada, from Lone Pine, CA.

A popular photographer at auction, Ansel Adams’ prints received a high number of bids with a combined sales total of $3,807,846. The highest priced lot was Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, which earned a conservative $504,000 after an original estimate of $500,000 to $700,000. To put that int perspective, last year an edition of the same photo sold at Christie’s for $930,000, making it the third most expensive lot of the year. Though significantly less than last year’s sale, the print will no doubt make it into this year’s list of the most expensive lots sold.

Coming in second was the famed Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park, sold for $226,800 after a modest $30,000 – $50,000 estimation. The Teton Range & the Snake River’ (The Grand Tetons and the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming) was third with a hammer price of $201,600 after an initial estimate of $50,000 – $70,000. See more results and browse other lots at Sotheby’s webpage here.

photograph by vincentas-liskauskas