NEW YORK, NY.- The veteran American photographer, Bruce Davidson, has been a leading member of the famous Magnum Photos agency for more than 60 years. An acclaimed photojournalist, he is best known for his clear-eyed, but sympathetic, portrayals of communities on the margins, as in his great 1970 work, East 100th Street. A large selection of prints from the series, once owned by the legendary Magnum photo editor, Jimmy Fox, leads the Photographs Online Sale in New York, 28 April 12 May. This set has an estimate of $40,000-60,000.
Bonhams Head of Photographs Laura Paterson said, East 100th Street, perhaps Davidson's most influential body of work, took two years to complete and shows life in what was then a particularly poverty-stricken part of East Harlem. Reflecting on the project, Davidson himself recalled that when he first started work in East Harlem, a resident told him, What you call a ghetto, I call my home, and much of the power of the images comes from his ability to see the world through the eyes of the people whose lives he is recording.
The sale also features two works by American photographer Walker Evans (1903-1975). Self Portrait, 5 rue de la Santé, Paris, was taken in 1926. Estimated at $15,000 - 25,000, it is among his earliest photographs. Evans went to Paris intending to write, but influenced by the Surrealists he met there, he took up photography instead. Fascinated by his own reflection in his large bedroom mirror, he executed the first of a long series of dazzling and quirky self-portraits.
On his return from Europe, Evans lived in Brooklyn near to the foot of the Bridge. His first published photographs were those he made of the Brooklyn Bridge, published in Hart Crane's epic poem 'The Bridge'. Manhattan Skyline from Brooklyn, dates from the same period around 1929 and has an estimate of US$7,000 - 9,000.
Other highlights of the sale include:
Orphaned Cheetah Cubs/ Mweiga, 1962 by Peter Beard (1938-2020). Estimate: $45,000-55,000.
Homage to Matisse, 1924 by Jaromír Funke (1896-1945). Estimate: $25,000 - 35,000.
Crystal from Polyester, 2007 by Alex Prager (Born 1979). Estimate: $25,000 - 35,000.
Self-Portrait with Mask, 1926 by Werner Rohde (1906-1990). Estimate: $15,000-25,000.
Iconographic Art Lunches #1, 1984, and Iconographic Art Lunches # 2, 1984 by Robert Heinecken (1931-2006). Robert Heinecken was invited by Polaroid to trial its new 20" x 24" large-format camera. Inspired by the photograms of Man Ray and Moholy-Nagy, he set about creating his own, very distinct studies, the result of arranging various foodstuffs on a Plexiglas tray which was then placed on film and exposed. Estimate: US$8,000 - 12,000 each.
France, 1975 by Josef Koudelka (born 1938) Estimate: $6,000-8,000.