NEW YORK, NY.- On the evening of Friday 5 April 2013 Sotheby’s New York will present the Single Owner sale: The Modern Image: Photographs from an Important American Collection. The collection was formed by Dr. Paul Lloyd Scharf and showcases his vision and connoisseurship. Among the highlights are signature images by many of the leading photographers of the 20th century including Robert Frank, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Dorothea Lange among others. The outstanding photograph in the sale is a rare and important early print of Edward Weston’s Two Shells, which carries an estimate of $600/900,000. Overall the sale is estimated to fetch $1.9/2.9 million.

Beth Iskander, Vice President in Sotheby’s Photographs department commented: “Dr. Scharf has put together his collection with a breadth of vision and level of expertise that is nothing short of remarkable. The artists being offered are as varied as Edward Weston and František Drtikol, Imogen Cunningham and Henri Cartier-Bresson, Bill Brandt and Dorothea Lange, yet all the pieces in the sale are united by their icon status within the history of the medium.”

Dr. Paul Lloyd Scharf said: “I have always been fascinated by the power of the photographic image and the ability of photographers, to make us see everyday things as they wish to frame them. As I have lived with these photographs, they have become an intimate part of my life and brought me enormous pleasure. These images, however, are not really mine, they belong to the world. I hope they go on to bring as much joy to their new owners as they have to me.”

The sale is led by Two Shells by Edward Weston – an exquisite 1927 print that represents the definitive early state of the image (est. $600/900,000). The photograph of shells placed before a simple dark background exemplify Weston’s achievement as an artist and are now one of the most recognizable icons of 20th Century fine art photography.