Photos 1900s 1910s
See also : Photo Travel Sport images < 1950
Please note that the date in the subtitles below is the date of the print, when known
Please note that the date in the subtitles below is the date of the print, when known
STEICHEN
1
1904 The Pond
2006 SOLD for $ 2.9M by Sotheby's
The aim of the pictorialist tendency is to favor the romantic beauty of a photograph over its documentary content. At the same time, the improvement of the photo-sensitive processes allows new effects, revealing the weakest contrasts and the smallest rays of light from the original negative.
Eduard 'Edward' Steichen meets Stieglitz in New York City in 1900. He is 21 years old. They collaborate closely, and Steichen deepens his research aimed at making photography recognized as an art in its own right.
The success of a photographic image depends on the quality of the entire chain, from the shooting to the processing in the laboratory. Steichen practices the process with gum bichromate, recommended by Demachy. This process makes it possible to reproduce an illusion of colors, in a more subtle way than a simple watercoloring. The first suitable process of color photography will be released by the Lumière brothers in 1907.
Steichen does not shy away from difficulties. One of his favorite themes is moonlight, with its subtle colors. He is a painter and observes these scenes imagining which pigments he can use. In 1904 he takes the plunge. His photograph of a pond in New York is an opportunity to experiment with an ambience effect by applying the gum bichromate in multiple layers.
The task is long and difficult. Steichen achieves three prints of his photo, each time with a different configuration of chemicals and layers. This interesting nocturnal effect, subtitled Moonlight or Moonrise, reveals the moon twice : on the horizon through a sparse wood and by the pale light it brings to the surface of the pond.
One of the prints was donated by Stieglitz in 1933 to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and another by Steichen in 1967 to the Museum of Modern Art. The third print was in a collection which was acquired as a whole by the Met in 2005. Considered as a duplicate in the Met collection, it was put back on the market by the museum.
The Pond - Moonlight, multiple gum bichromate print over platinum 40 x 50 cm, was sold for $ 2.9M by Sotheby's on February 14, 2006 from a lower estimate of $ 700K, lot 6.
Eduard 'Edward' Steichen meets Stieglitz in New York City in 1900. He is 21 years old. They collaborate closely, and Steichen deepens his research aimed at making photography recognized as an art in its own right.
The success of a photographic image depends on the quality of the entire chain, from the shooting to the processing in the laboratory. Steichen practices the process with gum bichromate, recommended by Demachy. This process makes it possible to reproduce an illusion of colors, in a more subtle way than a simple watercoloring. The first suitable process of color photography will be released by the Lumière brothers in 1907.
Steichen does not shy away from difficulties. One of his favorite themes is moonlight, with its subtle colors. He is a painter and observes these scenes imagining which pigments he can use. In 1904 he takes the plunge. His photograph of a pond in New York is an opportunity to experiment with an ambience effect by applying the gum bichromate in multiple layers.
The task is long and difficult. Steichen achieves three prints of his photo, each time with a different configuration of chemicals and layers. This interesting nocturnal effect, subtitled Moonlight or Moonrise, reveals the moon twice : on the horizon through a sparse wood and by the pale light it brings to the surface of the pond.
One of the prints was donated by Stieglitz in 1933 to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and another by Steichen in 1967 to the Museum of Modern Art. The third print was in a collection which was acquired as a whole by the Met in 2005. Considered as a duplicate in the Met collection, it was put back on the market by the museum.
The Pond - Moonlight, multiple gum bichromate print over platinum 40 x 50 cm, was sold for $ 2.9M by Sotheby's on February 14, 2006 from a lower estimate of $ 700K, lot 6.
2
1905 The Flatiron
2022 SOLD for $ 11.8M by Christie's
Beside his landscape moonlight view of The Pond, Steichen printed a night cityscape with the same painstaking process, using his 1904 photo of The Flatiron, the 81 m wonder of modern architecture completed in 1902 in New York City.
Both use the color piments in an effect of dark on black with limited spots including the moon over the pond and the light of the carriages in the street. They are great examples of the movement known as Pictorialism for which Stieglitz and Steichen had created in 1903 the Camera Work magazine.
The quantity of prints was limited in both cases by the extreme complexity of the process. Any of them has another tone setting.
Four copies in gum bichromate on platinum are known of the Flatiron. Three of them are kept by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The other copy, in a 48 x 38 cm sheet dated 1905 by the artist, is very dark over black. It was treasured by his family until 1992 and was sold for $ 11.8M from a lower estimate of $ 2M by Christie's on November 9, 2022, lot 4.
Both use the color piments in an effect of dark on black with limited spots including the moon over the pond and the light of the carriages in the street. They are great examples of the movement known as Pictorialism for which Stieglitz and Steichen had created in 1903 the Camera Work magazine.
The quantity of prints was limited in both cases by the extreme complexity of the process. Any of them has another tone setting.
Four copies in gum bichromate on platinum are known of the Flatiron. Three of them are kept by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The other copy, in a 48 x 38 cm sheet dated 1905 by the artist, is very dark over black. It was treasured by his family until 1992 and was sold for $ 11.8M from a lower estimate of $ 2M by Christie's on November 9, 2022, lot 4.
1904-1942 The Photographic Archive of Baseball
2016 SOLD for $ 1.8M including premium
The practice of photography excites the amateurs. In 1904, Charles Conlon is working as a proofreader for the New York Evening Telegram. His line manager is in charge of improving the Spalding baseball guide. He invites Conlon to exercise his hobby on behalf of the company.
Until 1942 Conlon is the anonymous author of the most important photographs of baseball, published and re-published in magazines, guides and sports cards. All the top players in Major League are displayed in his work.
Conlon shoots all his views on the field. He observes the differentiation of actions depending of the player, their method to hold the ball or the bat. His early negatives are made on glass plates 5 x 7 ". The improvement of the techniques then allows the photographer to use the format 4 x 5" on glass and later on acetate.
The increase of sensitivity now makes possible the view of a speedy movement in close up. His image freezing a spectacular action by Ty Cobb on July 23, 1910 is a masterpiece of instant photography.
The 7,462 original negatives taken by Conlon during the 38 years of his photographic career are housed in 85 boxes, each one around shoebox size. They are sold together at lot 80082 by Heritage in Dallas on August 27 with a guide value of $ 1M.
This complete archive is unique, sensational and irreplaceable in the history of baseball throughout its period. The sale includes only the photographs and in no way the intellectual property rights. Please watch the video shared by Heritage.
Until 1942 Conlon is the anonymous author of the most important photographs of baseball, published and re-published in magazines, guides and sports cards. All the top players in Major League are displayed in his work.
Conlon shoots all his views on the field. He observes the differentiation of actions depending of the player, their method to hold the ball or the bat. His early negatives are made on glass plates 5 x 7 ". The improvement of the techniques then allows the photographer to use the format 4 x 5" on glass and later on acetate.
The increase of sensitivity now makes possible the view of a speedy movement in close up. His image freezing a spectacular action by Ty Cobb on July 23, 1910 is a masterpiece of instant photography.
The 7,462 original negatives taken by Conlon during the 38 years of his photographic career are housed in 85 boxes, each one around shoebox size. They are sold together at lot 80082 by Heritage in Dallas on August 27 with a guide value of $ 1M.
This complete archive is unique, sensational and irreplaceable in the history of baseball throughout its period. The sale includes only the photographs and in no way the intellectual property rights. Please watch the video shared by Heritage.
1905 Venice by Coburn
2014 SOLD FOR $ 965K INCLUDING PREMIUM
Alvin Langdon Coburn began his photographic career very young, with the support of his cousin F. Holland Day.
Pictorialism had been the last achievement of the nineteenth century, favoring atmosphere and privacy and neglecting the documentary interest. Coburn is one of the last Pictorialists, but his meticulous work in the darkroom allows new effects.
Made in 1905, Shadows and reflections, Venice, is his most famous image of that period. The small Venetian bridge is not identifiable. A woman wisely holds the strong point of the composition. A double exposure of the positive with two different techniques breaks realism in favor of dreams by introducing a warm shade and blurring the foreground reflections in the canal.
This picture has been published by Camera Work in 1908. In the same issue, an anonymous commentator who was probably Stieglitz treated Coburn of 'favored child', indirectly consecrating that this nonconformist was even ahead of the Photo Secession.
A print 36 x 29 cm was sold for $ 365K including premium at Christie's on 27 April 2004. This piece comes back for sale at Sotheby's in New York on December 11, lot 11 estimated $ 350K.
Coburn continued his pioneering work. In 1913, Octopus is his masterpiece. This image of a park is figurative, but the reinterpretation of the paths as arms of an octopus fascinates the viewer. In 1917, his Vortographs achieved through a complex set of mirrors anticipate the abstract and geometric researches of Bauhaus, Constructivism and Man Ray altogether.
A Vortograph 27 x 20 cm was sold for $ 600K including premium by Sotheby's on April 1, 2014. Another one is estimated $ 300K by Sotheby's on December 11, lot 12 in the same sale as above.
RESULTS :
View of Venice : $ 965K including premium.
Vortograph : unsold
Pictorialism had been the last achievement of the nineteenth century, favoring atmosphere and privacy and neglecting the documentary interest. Coburn is one of the last Pictorialists, but his meticulous work in the darkroom allows new effects.
Made in 1905, Shadows and reflections, Venice, is his most famous image of that period. The small Venetian bridge is not identifiable. A woman wisely holds the strong point of the composition. A double exposure of the positive with two different techniques breaks realism in favor of dreams by introducing a warm shade and blurring the foreground reflections in the canal.
This picture has been published by Camera Work in 1908. In the same issue, an anonymous commentator who was probably Stieglitz treated Coburn of 'favored child', indirectly consecrating that this nonconformist was even ahead of the Photo Secession.
A print 36 x 29 cm was sold for $ 365K including premium at Christie's on 27 April 2004. This piece comes back for sale at Sotheby's in New York on December 11, lot 11 estimated $ 350K.
Coburn continued his pioneering work. In 1913, Octopus is his masterpiece. This image of a park is figurative, but the reinterpretation of the paths as arms of an octopus fascinates the viewer. In 1917, his Vortographs achieved through a complex set of mirrors anticipate the abstract and geometric researches of Bauhaus, Constructivism and Man Ray altogether.
A Vortograph 27 x 20 cm was sold for $ 600K including premium by Sotheby's on April 1, 2014. Another one is estimated $ 300K by Sotheby's on December 11, lot 12 in the same sale as above.
RESULTS :
View of Venice : $ 965K including premium.
Vortograph : unsold
1907-1930 The North American Indian by Curtis
2012 SOLD for $ 2.9M by Christie's
The work of Edward S. Curtis, The North American Indian, should be part of the cultural heritage of humanity. Without him, two worlds would never have met: the authentic traditions of American Indians, and photography.
When Curtis began to visit the western America, the tribal populations had declined dramatically, and many of them were snapped up by other forms of civilization. This is the end of an era.
When Curtis began recording thousands of photographs, this technique was already fully mastered. The photographer is no more a chemist or an experimenter, he can concentrate on his subject. This is the beginning of another era.
Compare dates: the first issue of Camera Work is published by Stieglitz in 1903. The first delivery of The North American Indian by Curtis, sold by subscription, in 1907.
Tirelessly, Curtis visited the 80 most authentic tribes. His friendship with some chiefs was facilitated by his application to use their own language, opening to him the path for the other communities.
When the publishing venture of The North American Indian ends in 1930 because of financial difficulties, Curtis had managed the most extraordinary and unsurpassed photographic documentary of all time : 2,200 selected photographs distributed among twenty volumes of text and twenty portfolios.
The copy for sale by Christie's on April 10, 2012 is complete. Kept in excellent condition, it is certainly the finest surviving example of this unusual work. It was sold for $ 2.9M from a lower estimate of $ 1M, lot 38.
When Curtis began to visit the western America, the tribal populations had declined dramatically, and many of them were snapped up by other forms of civilization. This is the end of an era.
When Curtis began recording thousands of photographs, this technique was already fully mastered. The photographer is no more a chemist or an experimenter, he can concentrate on his subject. This is the beginning of another era.
Compare dates: the first issue of Camera Work is published by Stieglitz in 1903. The first delivery of The North American Indian by Curtis, sold by subscription, in 1907.
Tirelessly, Curtis visited the 80 most authentic tribes. His friendship with some chiefs was facilitated by his application to use their own language, opening to him the path for the other communities.
When the publishing venture of The North American Indian ends in 1930 because of financial difficulties, Curtis had managed the most extraordinary and unsurpassed photographic documentary of all time : 2,200 selected photographs distributed among twenty volumes of text and twenty portfolios.
The copy for sale by Christie's on April 10, 2012 is complete. Kept in excellent condition, it is certainly the finest surviving example of this unusual work. It was sold for $ 2.9M from a lower estimate of $ 1M, lot 38.
1911 Autographed Photo of Joe Jackson
2021 SOLD for $ 1.47M by Christie's and Hunt
An album of 60 autographed baseball photos emerged as a time capsule at auction by Heritage in 2015. It had been prepared in 1911 by a photo dealer in Cleveland named Frank W. Smith.
Smith was indeed a fan of the local MLB club, the Cleveland Naps. He joined the Naps in March 1911 in Alexandria, Virginia, where they had some training. The album was featuring the players and managers of the Naps during that session and was completed later in that year by similar views of the New York Giants taken in Chicago. The format was mostly 8 x 10 inches in size for the Naps and 5 x 8 inches for the rest of it.
Three stars of the baseball were included. Nap Lajoie was the Cleveland team's namesake since 1903 and Joe Jackson had just been hired by them. Christy Mathewson was with the Giants. Their photos were offered as separate lots and the rest of it was sold for $ 13K. Christy fetched $ 93K and Nap $ 16.7K.
The athletic prodigy Shoeless Joe, aged 24, was the highlight of the collection. He was reputed to be an illiterate and indeed his writing is clumsy. I guess that he would not refuse an autograph to Smith while the rest of the team was doing it. It is the only known photo autographed by Joe Jackson in his 13 year MLB career. It has been authenticated by PSA/DNA. The location and date have been added by Smith below the signature of the illiterate.
This photo was sold for $ 180K by Heritage on February 21, 2015, lot 80051 and for $ 1.47M by Christie's and Hunt on October 7, 2021, lot 58. In the same 2021 sale, Christy's 5 " x 8 " photo from the Smith album was sold for $ 138K, lot 55.
Smith was indeed a fan of the local MLB club, the Cleveland Naps. He joined the Naps in March 1911 in Alexandria, Virginia, where they had some training. The album was featuring the players and managers of the Naps during that session and was completed later in that year by similar views of the New York Giants taken in Chicago. The format was mostly 8 x 10 inches in size for the Naps and 5 x 8 inches for the rest of it.
Three stars of the baseball were included. Nap Lajoie was the Cleveland team's namesake since 1903 and Joe Jackson had just been hired by them. Christy Mathewson was with the Giants. Their photos were offered as separate lots and the rest of it was sold for $ 13K. Christy fetched $ 93K and Nap $ 16.7K.
The athletic prodigy Shoeless Joe, aged 24, was the highlight of the collection. He was reputed to be an illiterate and indeed his writing is clumsy. I guess that he would not refuse an autograph to Smith while the rest of the team was doing it. It is the only known photo autographed by Joe Jackson in his 13 year MLB career. It has been authenticated by PSA/DNA. The location and date have been added by Smith below the signature of the illiterate.
This photo was sold for $ 180K by Heritage on February 21, 2015, lot 80051 and for $ 1.47M by Christie's and Hunt on October 7, 2021, lot 58. In the same 2021 sale, Christy's 5 " x 8 " photo from the Smith album was sold for $ 138K, lot 55.
An #auctionrecord for any signed sports photograph was set for an exceedingly scarce and important 1911 "Shoeless" Joe Jackson-autographed photo by Frank W. Smith which sold for $1,470,000, far exceeding the estimate of $200,000-400,000. @HuntAuctions https://t.co/MF5ay34oiU pic.twitter.com/pePqvupClf
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) October 7, 2021
1914 Heavy Roses by Steichen
2019 SOLD FOR $ 520K INCLUDNG PREMIUM
A Luxembourg-born made US citizen in 1900, Steichen settles in 1908 in Voulangis, a village not far from current-day Disneyland Paris. He leads to Stieglitz the best modern European artists, thus allowing his friends Matisse, Rodin and Brancusi to exhibit their work in New York for the first time.
On April 4 in New York, Phillips sells Heavy Roses, a 19 x 24 cm palladium print made by Steichen in 1914 and located in Voulangis. To preserve the details within the shadows, the photographer used the Sabatier effect, also called solarization or pseudo-solarization, consisting in interrupting the chemical development for bringing a short exposure to white light. This photo is estimated $ 400K, lot 15.
The deliberate use of the Sabatier effect in the dark room is a highly rare refinement at that time. The solarization that was later practiced by Man Ray and Lee Miller to provide silhouette underlinings is another application of this physico-chemical phenomenon that locally reverses the tones.
On April 4 in New York, Phillips sells Heavy Roses, a 19 x 24 cm palladium print made by Steichen in 1914 and located in Voulangis. To preserve the details within the shadows, the photographer used the Sabatier effect, also called solarization or pseudo-solarization, consisting in interrupting the chemical development for bringing a short exposure to white light. This photo is estimated $ 400K, lot 15.
The deliberate use of the Sabatier effect in the dark room is a highly rare refinement at that time. The solarization that was later practiced by Man Ray and Lee Miller to provide silhouette underlinings is another application of this physico-chemical phenomenon that locally reverses the tones.
1915 291 by Stieglitz
2014 SOLD FOR $ 460K INCLUDING PREMIUM
After the documentary period, the pictorialism is trying to raise photography at the level of the major arts.
In 1902, when he founded the movement of the Photo-Secession and launched the Camera Work magazine, Alfred Stieglitzoffered however another way forward. The subject has no limits, allowing the most daring angles and compositions. The perfection of negatives and prints is not only a technical feat : it must allow to approach more closely the reality of the vision and to generate emotion.
Stieglitz and Steichen manage to photograph the impossible : rain, snow, night. In 1904, Edward Steichen photographed a pond in moonlight. A 40 x 50 cm platinum print was sold for $ 2.9M by Sotheby's in 2006.
Executed in 1915 by Stieglitz, Out of window - 291 - NY is also an outstanding image. It snowed at 291 which was the name of Stieglitz's gallery at 291 5th Avenue. The artist looks at the tree through the window. He waits for twilight to get the best light on the branches before the background is darkened by the night. A 25 x 20 cm platinum print is estimated $ 400K, for sale by Sotheby's in New York on December 11, lot 8.
Stieglitz was so pleased with the atmosphere in this photograph that he gave to Charles Sheeler another print that Sheeler later presented to the Museum of Modern Art.
In 1902, when he founded the movement of the Photo-Secession and launched the Camera Work magazine, Alfred Stieglitzoffered however another way forward. The subject has no limits, allowing the most daring angles and compositions. The perfection of negatives and prints is not only a technical feat : it must allow to approach more closely the reality of the vision and to generate emotion.
Stieglitz and Steichen manage to photograph the impossible : rain, snow, night. In 1904, Edward Steichen photographed a pond in moonlight. A 40 x 50 cm platinum print was sold for $ 2.9M by Sotheby's in 2006.
Executed in 1915 by Stieglitz, Out of window - 291 - NY is also an outstanding image. It snowed at 291 which was the name of Stieglitz's gallery at 291 5th Avenue. The artist looks at the tree through the window. He waits for twilight to get the best light on the branches before the background is darkened by the night. A 25 x 20 cm platinum print is estimated $ 400K, for sale by Sotheby's in New York on December 11, lot 8.
Stieglitz was so pleased with the atmosphere in this photograph that he gave to Charles Sheeler another print that Sheeler later presented to the Museum of Modern Art.
1918 Portrait of Georgia by Stieglitz
2015 SOLD FOR $ 410K INCLUDING PREMIUM
Alfred Stieglitz was a central figure in the artistic life of New York, raising photography among the major arts and promoting young artists. In 1917, his life changes. He cannot maintain his magazine Camera Work and closes his Gallery 291.
Georgia O'Keeffe was one of the last artists honored with a solo exhibition at 291. She comes to live with Alfred in June 1918. Aged 31, she is 23 years younger than him. So begins one of the most remarkable artistic collaborations of modern art.
Alfred immediately started an extensive photographic series of portraits of Georgia. He will make more than 300 photos over a 20-year period. The first two years are particularly prolific as if Alfred suddenly discovered the passion of his life.
On March 31 in New York, Christie's sells a portrait of Georgia before one of her drawings, lot 233 estimated $ 400K, platinum print 25 x 20 cm from a negative realized in 1918. The slightly raised gaze is rather indifferent under a hat which hides the forehead but the actual expression is centered on the flexibility of the fingers.
On the following year, her hands became a separate theme just like her nude torso. A 25 x 20 cm palladium print of the hands was sold for $ 1,47M including premium by Sotheby's on 14 February 2006.
Georgia O'Keeffe was one of the last artists honored with a solo exhibition at 291. She comes to live with Alfred in June 1918. Aged 31, she is 23 years younger than him. So begins one of the most remarkable artistic collaborations of modern art.
Alfred immediately started an extensive photographic series of portraits of Georgia. He will make more than 300 photos over a 20-year period. The first two years are particularly prolific as if Alfred suddenly discovered the passion of his life.
On March 31 in New York, Christie's sells a portrait of Georgia before one of her drawings, lot 233 estimated $ 400K, platinum print 25 x 20 cm from a negative realized in 1918. The slightly raised gaze is rather indifferent under a hat which hides the forehead but the actual expression is centered on the flexibility of the fingers.
On the following year, her hands became a separate theme just like her nude torso. A 25 x 20 cm palladium print of the hands was sold for $ 1,47M including premium by Sotheby's on 14 February 2006.
1919 The Hands of Georgia by Stieglitz
2006 SOLD for $ 1.47M by Sotheby's
A photographer and a woman artist will boost the artistic life of New York after the First World War. We are in 1919. Alfred Stieglitz is admiring Georgia O'Keeffe. He shoots photos of her. In the nude, of course.
The hands of Georgia fascinate Stieglitz. The fingers are long and can bend with a great flexibility. The photographer appreciates that these hands of an artist are as important as a face to express the emotion and skill of the sitter.
On February 14, 2006, a 25 x 20 cm palladium print showing the hands of Georgia in 1919 was sold for $ 1.47M by Sotheby's. On a black background, the wrists are bending for a hand to grab the other one in the light.
A print in warm tones of the same size was sold for $ 770K by Sotheby's on December 12, 2012, lot 33. Both hands are in opposition, in full light on the very dark skirt. The flexible fingers play. This image was also created in 1919. The print made around was kept by Stieglitz until the end of his life and thereafter belonged to Georgia.
The hands of Georgia fascinate Stieglitz. The fingers are long and can bend with a great flexibility. The photographer appreciates that these hands of an artist are as important as a face to express the emotion and skill of the sitter.
On February 14, 2006, a 25 x 20 cm palladium print showing the hands of Georgia in 1919 was sold for $ 1.47M by Sotheby's. On a black background, the wrists are bending for a hand to grab the other one in the light.
A print in warm tones of the same size was sold for $ 770K by Sotheby's on December 12, 2012, lot 33. Both hands are in opposition, in full light on the very dark skirt. The flexible fingers play. This image was also created in 1919. The print made around was kept by Stieglitz until the end of his life and thereafter belonged to Georgia.
