Photography and Contemporary Art on 6 and 7 June 2023

Auctions 1222/1223 - Classical Photography

This year’s season highlight in the field of photography is a small photo book from 1934 which will go under the hammer in the Evening Sale: ‘Die Puppe. Erinnerungen zum Thema Puppe’ by Hans Bellmer is from a small edition which Bellmer published himself and in which he revealed his work on the scandalous subject of the doll for the first time. This launched his entry onto the Parisian Surrealist scene where his photographs caused a sensation (lot 85, € 30/40,000). Well preserved examples of the book, which includes a text and ten gelatin silver prints from the photographer, are exceptionally seldom.

A self-portrait by Willi Ruge as a press print from his reportage 'Ich fotografiere mich beim Absturz mit dem Fallschirm' shows the decisive moment in which the parachute opens up over the photographer’s head (lot 529, € 6/8,000). The photographs of the daring photographer’s daredevil self-experiments, for which he also composed the accompanying humorous texts, went around the world as picture reports in numerous illustrated magazines in the 1930s.

Standing out amongst the classical photography is a large-format vintage print of the well-known second variation from ‘Die Bäume vor meinem Fenster’ by Otto Steinert, a masterpiece of subjective photography from the co-founder of the fotoform group (lot 610, € 10/15,000). In the 1950s and 60s, Steinert influenced a string of German photographers and photo journalists as a teacher initially in Saarbrücken and later at the Folkwang School of Design in Essen. Amongst them were Detlef Orlopp, Peter Thomann, Adolf Clemens and Günter Hildenhagen, from whom several prints are offered in this auction (various lots, € 6/800 - € 1/1,500).

Recent American photography is on display in this auction in all its diversity and breadth: For friends of exquisite black and white photography, for example, the auction offers a gelatin silver print of a classically elegant flower still life, ‘Irises’, by Robert Mapplethorpe (lot 642, € 13/15,000). Press photographer Steve McCurry’s iconic ‘Afghan Girl’ – the portrait of the 12-year-old Sharbat Gula on her flight to a camp in Pakistan – is present as a brilliant Cibachrome print (lot 690, € 12/15,000). A thematic contrast takes the form of Peter Lindbergh’s large-format C-print ‘Milla Jovovich, Karen Elson, Los Angeles’, which depicts the glamourous nightlife of West Coast High Society in a shot for Vogue Italy (lot 716, € 10/15,000).

Three lithprints by the Dutch artist Anton Corbijn from the 1990s capture music icons Mick Jagger (Rolling Stones), Bono (U2) and Michael Stipe (R.E.M.) in expressively powerful portraits (lots 710-712, each € 6/8,000), whilst a star from the music branch – the Canadian rock musician/photographer Bryan Adams – offers himself two large-format portraits of Kate Moss and Victoria Beckham, taken in the early 2000s (lots 718/719, each € 5/6,000).

Auctions 1223/1224 - Contemporary Art

This year’s selection of photographic lots in the field of contemporary art is particularly extensive, offered in the Evening Sale – directly after the Photography Auction – as well as in the Day Sale the following day. Thomas Demand’s photograph ‘Fotoecke/Photobooth’ is one of the highlights assembled in the Evening Sale (lot 76, € 30/40,000), and shows a meticulous paper reconstruction of a room in the former GDR detention centre. The motif is based on a press photo from a ‘Spiegel’ article which inspired Demand’s artistic exploration of the subject.

Impressive photographs come in the form of the large ‘Menschenbild’ from the Prosecuritas cycle by Jürgen Klauke (lot 377, € 10/15,000) with an excellent exhibition provenance, as well as two works by the artist couple Anna and Johannes Blume from their famous series ‘Im Wald’ (lots 374/375, € 4/5,000 and € 6/8,000).The offering is rounded off by many works – some large-format – from the Düsseldorf School, including examples by Axel Hütte (lot 459, € 12/15,000) and Andreas Gefeller (lots 465/466, each € 10/15,000).

Auction Dates

Auction 1222 - Photography

Photography
Tuesday 06. 06. 2023, 02:00 pm
Lot 550 - 731
Auction 1222
Auction
Cologne
Tuesday, June 6
2 pm: Lot 550 – 731
Preview
Cologne
Thursday/Friday, 1/2 June, 10 am - 5.30 pm
Saturday, June 3, 10 am - 4 pm
Sunday, June 4, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Monday, June 5, 10 a.m. - 5.30 p.m.
Vernissage
Wednesday, May 31, 6 pm

Berlin, Poststr. 22 (a selection)
Tuesday, May 23, 10 am - 9 pm
Wednesday, 24 May 10 am - 5 pm
Vernissage
Tuesday, May 23, 6 pm
Catalogue
PDF-Catalogue

Auction 1223 - Evening Sale - Contemporary Art

Photography Post War & Contemporary Art Modern Art
Tuesday 06. 06. 2023, 06:00 pm
Lot 1 - 97
Auction 1223
Auction
Cologne
Tuesday, June 6
6 pm: Lot 1 – 97
Preview
Cologne
Thursday/Friday, 1/2 June, 10 am - 5.30 pm
Saturday, June 3, 10 am - 4 pm
Sunday, June 4, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Monday, June 5, 10 a.m. - 5.30 p.m.
Vernissage
Wednesday, May 31, 6 pm

Berlin, Poststr. 22 (a selection)
Tuesday, May 23, 10 am - 9 pm
Wednesday, 24 May 10 am - 5 pm
Vernissage
Tuesday, May 23, 6 pm
Catalogue
PDF-Catalogue

Auction 1224 - Day Sale - Contemporary Art

Photography Post War & Contemporary Art Modern Art
Wednesday 07. 06. 2023, 02:00 pm
Lot 300 - 499
Auction 1224
Auction
Cologne
Wednesday, June 7
2 pm: Lot 300 – 499
Preview
Cologne
Thursday/Friday, 1/2 June, 10 am - 5.30 pm
Saturday, June 3, 10 am - 4 pm
Sunday, June 4, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Monday, June 5, 10 a.m. - 5.30 p.m.
Vernissage
Wednesday, May 31, 6 pm

Berlin, Poststr. 22 (a selection)
Tuesday, May 23, 10 am - 9 pm
Wednesday, 24 May 10 am - 5 pm
Vernissage
Tuesday, May 23, 6 pm
Catalogue
PDF-Catalogue

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Contact

Jan Bykowski
Press and public relations
info@lempertz.com