Pictorialism into Modernism: Auction Results

While much of the world was under lockdown, Christie’s shifted its focus into hosting affordable online auctions featuring works from their partnership with the MoMA archives. From 30th April to 13th May 89 lots were available to bid on from artists such as Edward Weston, Alfred Stieglitz, Dorothea Lange and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

The theme of the auction was From Pictorialism into Modernism: 80 Years of Photography with the following statement:

The photographers represented here have made extraordinary contributions to the canon of Modern art while playing substantial roles in the early formation and evolution of the Museum’s distinguished Department of Photography. 

Bids started at $100 with the cheapest print selling for just $375. All together the auction brought in a sales total of $305,375. The three most expensive lots were as follows:

In second place was Dorothea Lange’s Along the highway near Bakersfield, California, Dust bowl refugees, November 1935 which had an estimate of $10,000-$15,000 and sold at the bottom end of the estimate for $11,875.

In joint first place was Henri Cartier-Bresson’s Madrid, 1933 with an estimate of $30,000-$50,000, and Edward Steichen’s Heavy Roses, Voulangis, France with an estimate of $40,000-$60,000, both obtained a hammer price of $27,500.

View each image by clicking on the photograph title, view other lots from this auction and their results on Christie’s page here.

image by denise jans