.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
‘In the 1950s, many Americans believed they were living in paradise. It was an era of almost unbelievable abundance, symbolized by rampant consumerism, car culture and suburban sprawl. But behind the clapboard exterior of those near-identical Levittown-type homes, built across the country, some Americans were starting to suspect it was a lie: perhaps consumption didn’t lead to a happy society, after all.’ —Benjamin Genocchio, New York Times, May 25, 2003
Christie’s is proud to present lots 16-73 from an important collection of American photography focused on the post-war period. This significant collection traces a rich history of camera-work that begins with Walker Evans in his role within the FSA agency during the 1930s and 1940s, moves on to the work of influential figures of the immediate post-war period including New York-based Robert Frank and William Klein along with the Philadelphia-based photographer Louis Faurer, and through to Diane Arbus, Garry Winogrand, and Lee Friedlander of New Documents fame. The collection also broadly includes works by Bruce Davidson, Danny Lyon, Larry Fink and Tod Papageorge.
Coming to occupy a mentor-like position within the field of American photography, Walker Evans perfected his work in the documentary style, honed during his FSA years. He ultimately cast a long and generous shadow of influence and encouragement across subsequent generations of photographers. A handwritten letter to Evans from a young Robert Frank, out on the road during his continent-spanning Guggenheim road-trip which resulted in the classic photobook The Americans, is but one of the rare offerings included in this historic sale.
As we know, The Americans was the result of the artist’s two consecutive Guggenheim Fellowships (1955 and 1956). Several prints made during those years are included here, along with works made both before and after that project, including the rare Lure Camera portfolio, produced in 1980 following an exhibition at the National Film Board of Canada Gallery in Ottawa, Ontario of the original collages. Evans’s influence was extended to the next generation of photographers as they turned their gaze to America’s social landscape; he was a keen and reliable champion of not only Frank, but also Diane Arbus and Lee Friedlander.
‘In the past decade a new generation of photographers has directed the documentary approach to more personal ends. Their aim has been not to reform life but to know it. Their work betrays a sympathy – almost an affection—for the imperfections and frailties of society. They like the real world, in spite of its terrors, as the source of all wonder and fascination and value—no less precious for being irrational.’ – John Szarkowski, in the New Documents press release, 1967
In 1967, the Museum of Modern Art, New York presented the work of three at the time relatively unknown photographers in an exhibition titled New Documents. Diane Arbus, Lee Friedlander and Garry Winogrand presented as ‘a new generation of photographers’ who had stepped outside of a strictly documentary focus. Unlike their predecessors, the work presented was more personal and emerged from having inextricably immersed themselves in their surroundings.
At the same time, both Bruce Davidson and Danny Lyon were engaged in a long-form journalistic approach, as were young contemporaries including Susan Meiselas who developed their own unique styles.
This magnificent collection was assembled over the course of thirty years and has been exhibited in a number of museum exhibitions. The prints themselves are in beautiful condition and are deserving of a place within any collection dedicated to great photography of America’s Post-War period. Supplementing the individual prints offered here are a total of nine artist portfolios which were all either printed by or produced under the direct supervision of the artists themselves.
Christie’s is proud to present lots 16-73 from an important collection of American photography focused on the post-war period. This significant collection traces a rich history of camera-work that begins with Walker Evans in his role within the FSA agency during the 1930s and 1940s, moves on to the work of influential figures of the immediate post-war period including New York-based Robert Frank and William Klein along with the Philadelphia-based photographer Louis Faurer, and through to Diane Arbus, Garry Winogrand, and Lee Friedlander of New Documents fame. The collection also broadly includes works by Bruce Davidson, Danny Lyon, Larry Fink and Tod Papageorge.
Coming to occupy a mentor-like position within the field of American photography, Walker Evans perfected his work in the documentary style, honed during his FSA years. He ultimately cast a long and generous shadow of influence and encouragement across subsequent generations of photographers. A handwritten letter to Evans from a young Robert Frank, out on the road during his continent-spanning Guggenheim road-trip which resulted in the classic photobook The Americans, is but one of the rare offerings included in this historic sale.
As we know, The Americans was the result of the artist’s two consecutive Guggenheim Fellowships (1955 and 1956). Several prints made during those years are included here, along with works made both before and after that project, including the rare Lure Camera portfolio, produced in 1980 following an exhibition at the National Film Board of Canada Gallery in Ottawa, Ontario of the original collages. Evans’s influence was extended to the next generation of photographers as they turned their gaze to America’s social landscape; he was a keen and reliable champion of not only Frank, but also Diane Arbus and Lee Friedlander.
‘In the past decade a new generation of photographers has directed the documentary approach to more personal ends. Their aim has been not to reform life but to know it. Their work betrays a sympathy – almost an affection—for the imperfections and frailties of society. They like the real world, in spite of its terrors, as the source of all wonder and fascination and value—no less precious for being irrational.’ – John Szarkowski, in the New Documents press release, 1967
In 1967, the Museum of Modern Art, New York presented the work of three at the time relatively unknown photographers in an exhibition titled New Documents. Diane Arbus, Lee Friedlander and Garry Winogrand presented as ‘a new generation of photographers’ who had stepped outside of a strictly documentary focus. Unlike their predecessors, the work presented was more personal and emerged from having inextricably immersed themselves in their surroundings.
At the same time, both Bruce Davidson and Danny Lyon were engaged in a long-form journalistic approach, as were young contemporaries including Susan Meiselas who developed their own unique styles.
This magnificent collection was assembled over the course of thirty years and has been exhibited in a number of museum exhibitions. The prints themselves are in beautiful condition and are deserving of a place within any collection dedicated to great photography of America’s Post-War period. Supplementing the individual prints offered here are a total of nine artist portfolios which were all either printed by or produced under the direct supervision of the artists themselves.