Sotheby’s A Beautiful Life Auction Results; 2018

Sotheby’s hosted an auction of photographs from the collection of Leland Hirsch titled A Beautiful Life: Photographs from the Collection of Leland Hirsch which was billed as follows…

Assembled with passion over the course of nearly two decades, the Hirsch collection tells the story of some of the greatest photographers of the 20th and 21st centuries. A pioneer in the creative and scientific development of beauty products, an authority on haircolor, visionary thought-leader and industry innovator, Hirsch has defined both his storied career and art collection by the search for “what should be that is not.” The masterpieces that comprise the Hirsch collection, including Surrealist portraits by Man Ray; iconic fashion photographs by Richard Avedon and Irving Penn; portraits by Diane Arbus; and unique collaged works by Peter Beard reflect a unique and sophisticated vision sensitive to life’s beautiful contradictions.

The most expensive lot of the day was the popular Dovima With Elephants, Evening Dress by Dior, Cirque D’Hiver, Paris, 1955 by Richard Avedon which sold for $375,000 just inside its original estimate of $300,000-$500,000. This was a 32nd edition print, compared with the 14th edition print that sold for $81,500 more ($456,500) on Friday (6th April), when it sold at Christie’s Photographs auction.

Other high performing sales included Hog Ranch Front Lawn, Night Feeder (2:00AM) With Maureen Gallagher & Mbuno, Feb, 1987, by Peter Beard, which had an original estimate of $200,000-$300,00, and sold for $250,000. 

Herb Ritts’ Stephanie, Cindy, Christy, Tatjana, Naomi, Hollywood, 1989 print out-performed it’s estimate of $50,000-$70,000 by selling for $150,000 making it the third most expensive lot at the auction. The auction brought in a combined sales total of $2,002,750.

View all of the lots available in this auction by clicking here, or view the results of Sotheby’s other photography auction that day by clicking here.