Portfolio Four: “What Majestic Word, In Memory of Russell Varian” by Ansel Adams (American, 1902-1984) was the top lot of the sale, rising to $52,500. The folio, edition 130/260, contained 15 silver print photographs, including “Teklanika River, Mount McKinley National Park, Alaska” (pictured) ($50/75,000).
Review by Kiersten Busch
NEW YORK CITY — On December 17, Swann Galleries conducted a 223-lot sale, Fine Photographs, which featured consignments from many sellers and was anchored by the collection of architect and 70-year collector and amateur photographer Neil Robert Berzak. His collection included works by Twentieth Century masters such as Ansel Adams, Julia Margaret Cameron, George A. Tice and Roman Vishniac, among others.
Leading the sale was Portfolio Four: “What Majestic Word, In Memory of Russell Varian” by Ansel Adams. The portfolio of 15 silver print photographs were images of “landscapes and details of the natural world,” according to the auction catalog, which included various locations across California and one image from Alaska. The folio’s images all contained Adams’ signature in ink on the reverse of their mounts and were all housed in individual folders. Published in 1963 by the Sierra Club (San Francisco, Calif.), the portfolio landed within its $50/75,000 estimate to achieve $52,500.
Another portfolio, this one by Roman Vishniac, included 12 photographs taken between 1936-38 and snapped a $134,750 finish. Titled The Vanished World, the portfolio was printed in 1977 by Witkin-Berley Ltd (New York). This example, housed in an elephant folio-sized clamshell box, was one of an edition of 25 in the 20-by-16-inch size. The lot also included a descriptive and illustrated pamphlet signed by Vishniac which was inserted into the front inside pocket. The silver prints of the photos themselves each contained Vishniac’s signature in ink.
The second-highest price of the sale, $13,750, went to The Vanished World, a portfolio by Roman Vishniac (Russian-American, 1897-1990), which was shot between 1936-38 and printed in 1977. The 12 silver prints, including “Entrance to the Ghetto, 1938” (pictured), were housed in an elephant folio-sized brown cloth clamshell ($10/15,000).
A first edition portfolio by Alvin Langdon Coburn, titled London, took viewers on a journey though the capital city of the United Kingdom, which included 20 hand-pulled photogravures described as “elegant” in catalog notes. Printed in both New York and London in 1909, the folio, housed in a ¼ green leather casing, depicted places across the vast city such as Westminster Abbey, Waterloo Bridge, Trafalgar Square, Tower Bridge, Leicester Square, Kensington Gardens, the Houses of Parliament and Saint Paul’s cathedral, among others. The portfolio flew to $7,500, achieving its high estimate.
Although not a portfolio, the fourth-highest price of the sale went to a selection of four plates from Eadweard Muybridge’s “Animal Locomotion” series, captured in 1887, which galloped to $9,375. The collotype plates all contained Muybridge’s letterpress credit, the series’ title, plate number, copyright and date. The sequences, which included one that Muybridge staged of himself, included actions such as descending a stepladder, throwing a baseball, doing a running somersault, throwing a disk, ascending a step and walking.
Individual photographs also did well with bidders, as George A. Tice’s “Petit’s Mobil Station and Watertower, Cherry Hill, N.J., 1974” earned a third-place finish at $11,875. The silver print, which contained Tice’s block-lettered signature in pencil on the photograph’s mount, had provenance to the collection of Neil Robert Berzak and was printed in 1979.
“Pepper No. 3” by Edward Weston (1886-1958), 1930, printed 1980s by Cole Weston, silver print, 15 by 13¼ inches mounted, marked “30P” and dated in pencil verso, had provenance to the Berzak collection; it crossed the block for $7,250 ($5/7,500).
Edward Weston was well represented too, with two prints of his photographs earning spots in the top eight best-selling lots of the sale. “Nude (Charis, Santa Monica)” was the first of the two to cross the block, lounging at $7,250. It was printed in the 1970s by Cole Weston, whose signature was on the backside of the silver print, along with Edward’s stamp and the negative notation “227N.” The print was reproduced in Amy Conger’s 1936 book Edward Weston: Photographs from the Collection of the Center for Creative Photography (CCP/The University of Arizona). Weston’s other top-selling silver print, “Pepper No. 3,” was printed by Cole in the 1980s and earned the same price, $7,250.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, 212-254-4710 or www.swanngalleries.com.
