Auction: The Art of the Nude / online until 12 December 2018

[Michael Pritchard]

Bellmans dedicated photography auction The Art of the Nude, a collection of 19th and 20th century works, will be hosted on thesaleroom.com as an online timed auction going live on the 29 November, with bidding closing on the 12 December. The digital catalogue of 182 lots, covers the spectrum of the photographic process, from the early albumen print through to the contemporary digital print. The sale also includes a selection of Travel, early Royalty photographs, and three Aspinal of London, red leather bound albums of manuscript captioned First World War press photographs. Auction estimates ranging from £80 to £12,000, offer the photography connoisseur or the novice collector a chance to own an influential image

The auction includes works by Irving Penn, Auguste Belloc, Nadar, Vincenzo Galdi, Wilhelm (Guigliemo) Pluschow, Brassai, Paul Caffell, Nick Ross, Dora Maar, Edward Steichen, Bert Stern, Max Caffell, Lewis Morley, Helmut Newton, Edward Sheriff Curtis, Herb Ritts, Malick Sidibe, Jan Saudek, Leif Erik Nygards, E.J. Bellocq, Norman Parkinson, Sebastiao Salgado, Thilly Weissenborn, Patrick Lichfield, Marcus Adams, John Everard, Frantisek Drtikol, Jean Straker, and Keith Cardwell

Highlights include:

• Alfred Cheney Johnston (1884 - 1971) ‘The Cutter Sisters’, gelatin silver print, ca.1922, captioned in pencil, photographer’s stamp on verso. (Lot 2545) £1,000 - £1,500.
• Leif Erik Nygards (b. 1939) ‘Marilyn Monroe, Bel Air Hotel, June 27th, 1962’, chromogenic print, signed, titled, dated and inscribed in ink by photographer on verso ' MM photographed in Los Angeles / at Bel Air Hotel, June 27th 1962', photographer's printed copyright stamp 1962 / 1996, print no. 8 above inscription. Considered to be the last professional photograph taken of Marilyn before her death on 5th August, 1962. (Lot 2589) £3,000 - £4,000.
• Dora Marr (1907 - 1997) ‘Untitled’, depicting a nude taking off a robe, ca.1930s, gelatin silver print, mounted, with the estate sale stamp 'Atelier Dora Maar 1907 - 1997 19 novembre 1999 lot 86' on verso. (Lot 2563) £2,000 - £3,000.
• Irving Penn (1917 – 2009) ‘Nude 65’, 1949, gelatin silver print, printed 1949 -1950, mounted, annotations, limitation one of 23 stamp, titled, dated, photographer’s copyright stamp, numbered and signed by the photographer on verso. (Lot 2569) £10,000 – £12,000

These are just a small number of the photographs being put up for auction.

Denise Kelly, Bellmans photography specialist, comments: ‘Photographs are my passion, I have really enjoyed cataloguing this visually exciting sale. We’re looking forward to seeing the market’s response to this sale which we hope will attract buyers across the globe.’

See the online catalogue here.

Image: Alfred Cheney Johnston, Cutter Sisters, [Zeigfield Girls] ca. 1922