Auction: Early French Masterworks from the Hyman Collection / 1 November 2018

[Michael Pritchard]

Early French Masterworks from the Hyman Collection showcase rare, important works from the 1840s to 1850s by the first practitioners of negative-positive photography in France. This exceptional selection of 12 lots comprises 11 salt prints, of which three are accompanied by their unique paper negatives, and one albumen print. The 13 featured pioneer-photographers – Édouard Baldus, Hippolyte Bayard, Louis De Clercq, Alphonse Delaunay, John Beasley Greene, Louis-Adolphe Humbert de Molard, Firmin-Eugène Le Dien and Gustave Le Gray, Charles Nègre, Pierre-Émile-Joseph Pécarrère, Henri-Victor Regnault, Louis-Rémy Robert and Félix Teynard – all adopted the new medium of photography in France and contributed towards its technical and artistic advancement.

See the catalogue here: https://www.phillips.com/auctions/auction/UK040218

Image: J B Greene

[Michael Pritchard]

BPH has been in contact with Phillips and a spokesperson said: 

Phillips and the consignor decided to withdraw the first twelve lots of the auction, Early French Masterworks from the Hyman Collection.  After careful consideration it was mutually concluded that, at this time, the sale of this group of rare, and in many cases unique, museum-quality photographs would best be handled privately.  Phillips will continue to represent this material, and looks forward to placing these important early photographs in the appropriate collections. 

[David McGreevy]

Does anyone know if these 12 lots were pulled from the auction?

The online catalog lists them as "This lot is no longer available", yet the other results are listed.