19th Century Photography
These photographs are offered for sale at Sotheby’s April 25th auction of photographs from the private collection of Margaret Weston, one of the first photography dealers, and a major force in the development of the international market for fine art photographs. Starting in 1975 she exhibited photography in her gallery in CA, long before it was de rigueur in New York and London. According to the auction catalog, her passion is for 19th century photography of which the above are a small sample. I’m drawn to these early nature photos, although I’m hard put to explain exactly way — they are beautiful, a little ghostly, and oddly innocent. In any case, check out the rest of the online preview at Sotheby’s — it is a chance to see some of the most highly coveted (and expensive) photographs in the world before they are snapped up into someone’s collection to never be seen again.
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
April 12th, 2007 13:29
If interested, you can also check out a video preview of Sotheby’s specialist Chris Mahoney talking about another upcoming collection: http://www.sothebys.com/video/privateview/
April 13th, 2007 20:13
I think these photographs are very cool, at once antiquated and with interesting texture and mood. And, in fact, I think this entire site is pretty cool, although it is not enough to say just that without including something about why this is so. The site is reassuring because it codifies a way of living, and more importantly, a way of enjoying life. In the modern era there is far too much consumption and far too little enjoyment, and it is inspiring to see a site so dedicated to enjoyment. Hats off.