Masterpieces of Design & Photography

The start of 2019 has seen two mixed-media auctions from Sotheby’s with meagre photography offerings selling for no more than £24,000. Christie’s, however, has chosen to kick off its photography sales with the upcoming Masterpieces of Design and Photography – a concept auction “pairing seminal design with some of the most iconic photography produced in the 20th century”. 

Like Sotheby’s auctions so far, this auction is part of an annual schedule, unlike Sotheby’s, however, the Masterpieces auction brings together some of the biggest names in photography with standout prints. Whereas Sotheby’s photography sales this year have been listed with estimates no bigger than five-figures, Christie’s has pulled together some of the most desirable lots with estimates as high as £1,200,000.

The auction has work listed by artists such as Edward Weston, Thomas Struth, Andreas Gursky, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Diane Arbus, Irving Penn and Richard Avedon. Sale highlights include El Lissitzky’s Self-Portrait (‘The Constructor’), a 1924 collage expected to sell for between £800,000 to £1,200,000, and Edward Weston’s infamous  Shell (Nautilus), with an estimate of £500,000 to £700,000 – both prints have extraordinary provenance, hence the high estimates. 

This auction will no doubt bring the highest priced photographs of the year so far, but it also has the potential to introduce new prints into the top ’50 Most Expensive Photographs’ list. 

Masterpieces of Design and Photography will be taking place on 5th March in London. Browse the auction catalogue and register to bid on Christie’s webpage here [click].