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• Issue #185
• Article

Bassenge Photography Auctions is holding its final sale for the year on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011 in Berlin at 4 p.m. local time. The auction will offer 444 photography and photography book lots in one of its largest sales ever. Bassenge's Fall photography auction this season offers some very unusual 19th-century rarities, as well as beautiful vintage prints from later periods up to contemporary photo works.

Included in the 19th-century section of the sale is a Turkish-Greek travel album (circa 1860) with 87 large-format prints by G. Berggren and D. Konstantinou (lot 4012) (est. 8,000 euro). Eight extremely rare salt prints from circa 1852, which have the fine detail reminiscent of old sepia drawings, several of which are signed by G. Caneva (lots 4018-4023, est. 1,000-3,000 euro), are also being offered.

Lovers of exotic and ethnographic photographs should note an opulent Ceylon album by Skeen (lot 4024, est. 3000 euro), as well as images from ancient China (Saunders, Dutton & Michaels), Japan, and even an extensive portrait collection (Woodbury & Page) from the Dutch Indies (lots 4101-4102, est. 1,200 euro).

The "Dark Continent" was also a subject for photographers in the early stages of the medium's development. Some of the earliest photographs ever taken are those by P. Tremaux which he took in 1847 and had printed in the Blanquart–Evrard process up to 1854 and which are in the publication "Voyage au Soudan Oriental et dans l'Afrique Septentrionale" (lot 4095, est. 13,000 euro). Also of note is a very large, 2.7 meter panorama of Constantinople (lot 4029, est. 1,800 Euro) taken circa 1870.

The 20th-century section is marked by a large number of rare vintage prints on beautiful photo papers of the time. The frame-filling plant studies by Renger-Patzsch (lots 4305-4307, est. 3,000 euro each) and the Swiss landscapes by Albert Steiner are particularly beautiful. Both the vintage print of Wols' very attractive close-up profile of the blonde Nicole Boubant (lot 4424, est. 5,000 euro) from 1933 and Claude Cahun's self-portrait with another actress in costume for "Barbe bleue" (lot 4145, est. 9,000 ero) are also rare finds.

One icon of modern photographic history that is in the sale is "Shell" (1927) by Edward Weston (lot 4416, est. 6,000 euro) and is offered here in a later but pristine print by Cole Weston.

A rarely seen image by Brassaï of a woman looking at the photographer in the mirror she is dressing before is a large-format vintage print (lot 4135, est. 3,500 euro) and Jean Moral's dynamic image of a skier in motion, published in 1935, will surely find admirers (lot 4292, est. 900 euro).

Other highlights of the auction include: a large-format print of "Romania" by J. Koudelka (lot 4251, est. 10,000 euro), excellent prints by R. Häusser (lots 4215-4217, est. 900-2,500 euro ), three original pages from the dummy for "New Paths in Photography" by A. Feininger (lots 4190-4192, est. 1,000 euro each), a large-format print of "The Piki Maker" by E. Curtis (lot 4174, est. 2,800 euro) and a rare, intriguing portrait of the artist Tamara de Lempicka by Madame d'Ora (lot 4180, est. 2,000 euro).

Other important photographers are being offered as well, such as: Herbert Bayer; Cecil Beaton; Bernd & Hilla Becker; Eva Besnyö; Karl Blossfeldt; Margaret Bourke-White; Joseph Breitenbach; Harry Callahan; Jewgeni Chaldej; William Christenberry; Karl Struss, Frantisek Drtikol; Elliott Erwitt; Hans Finsler; Charles Gatewood; Nan Goldin; Dan Graham; Ara Güler; Ernst Haas; Heinz Hajek-Halke; Keith Haring; David Hockney; Thomas Höpker; Rebecca Horn; Horst P. Horst; George Hoyningen-Huene; Axel Hütte; Lotte Jacobi; Peter Keetman; Heinrich Koch; Dorothea Lange, Jan Lauschmann; Adolf Lazi; Robert Lebeck; Lehnert & Landrock; Man Ray; Robert Mapplethorpe; Will Mc Bride; Joel Meyerowitz; Richard Misrach; Floris Neusüss; Willy Ronis; Arthur Rothstein; August Sander; Toni Schneiders; Friedrich Seidenstücker; Cindy Sherman; Stephen Shore; Julius Shulman; Laurie Simmons; Bert Stern; Paul Strand; Josef Sudek; Antanas Sutkus; Herbert Tobias; Umbo; Luigi Veronesi; Walter Vogel; Weegee; Dr. Paul Wolff; Ulrich Wüst and many others.

Previewing for the auction is: Monday-Monday Nov. 21-28, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. (CET), Tuesday, Nov. 29, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., as well as by appointment. The catalogue can be ordered from the department (contact information below), or can be seen online at: http://194.25.171.19/bassenge/en/photo.asp?#ct . The printed catalogue is priced at 20 euros.

Auctions: Photography Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011, 4 p.m. (CET). Previewing and auctions at: Bassenge Modern Art Dept., Rankestr. 24, 1st floor, 10789 Berlin, Germany. Contact: Jennifer Augustyniak at jennifer@bassenge.com or art@bassenge.com ; phone: + 49 30 219 97 277; fax: +49 30 219 97 105.