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Nigel's Picks
Nigel Russell | Director, Photographs, New York
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Ruth Bernhard's At the Mirror, San Francisco, 1959 is
a masterful exploration of the female form and the quiet intimacy of
self-reflection. Known for her precise use of light and shadow, Bernhard
captures a moment of contemplative grace, where the subject-posed
before a mirror-seems both physically present and introspectively distant. The
photograph exemplifies Bernhard's deep appreciation for the sculptural
qualities of the human body, particularly through her use of soft, diffused
light to emphasize curves and contours. Bernhard's reverence for form, beauty,
and inner stillness is fully realized, contributing to her legacy as one of the
leading figures in 20th-century American photography. Mounted on the back of
this photograph is a photograph of Bernhard with pencil annotations.
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This auction features several Bert Stern photographs of
Marilyn Monroe. One of my favorites is "Baby" from The
Last Sitting (1962), a poignant and iconic image that captures both
the glamour and vulnerability of one of Hollywood's most enduring legends.
Taken during Monroe's final photo session just weeks before her death, the
photograph is part of a larger series that blends sensuality with a haunting
sense of introspection. In "Baby," Monroe gazes into
the camera with a mix of playfulness and fragility, her tousled hair and
expressive eyes revealing a woman who is both in command of her image and
quietly unraveling. This image, like the series as a whole,
transcends celebrity portraiture to become a deeply human document-celebrating Monroe's magnetic charm while hinting
at the loneliness beneath her luminous surface.
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Emery P. Reves-Biro's Optigram, circa 1935, is a
striking example of avant-garde photography that reflects the experimental
spirit of interwar modernism. Influenced by Constructivism and the Bauhaus
movement, the image plays with geometric abstraction, light, and form to create
a visual experience that is both dynamic and disorienting. Reves-Biro's
double exposure of a nude creates an optical effect that questions traditional
representation. Created during a period of intense innovation in
visual culture, the work aligns with the broader European interest in exploring
how the camera could capture and even invent new ways of seeing.
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Sarahjane's Picks
Sarahjane Blum | Director of Illustration Art, New York
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Though the centerfold she shot of Bettie Page for the 1955
Christmas issue of Playboy is Bunny Yeager's most famous contribution to the
magazine, Yeager's influence was much deeper than that. Throughout its early
years, Yeager discovered multiple Playmates including Linda Vargas. In this set
of images, comprised of a full vintage contact sheet and six original camera
negatives, Yeager captures all of Vargas's mysterious beauty, and showcases her
own ability to draw it out for the camera. As this is one of over 20 lots
direct from the archive of Bunny Yeager in this auction, it was hard to pick a
favorite, but for now this is it.
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Much like today, the 1920s were a moment where wonder and
anxiety about technology was leading to deep philosophical questions about the
nature of humanity. Marguerite Agniel, one of the early pioneers of yoga in
America and an influential figure in the physical culture movement in America,
often embodied these questions in the photographs taken of her for books and
magazines which idealized the disciplined human form. In this series of images
that were used in the creation of the book Body Sculpture, we see
Edwin Townsend playing with the tension between the human and the man made,
turning Agniel into an art deco chrome and gold beauty. It's a spectacular
one-of-a-kind grouping.
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Holly's Pick
Holly Sherratt | West Coast Director, Photographs
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Bob Mizer (1922-1992) was a visionary photographer and
publisher who celebrated male beauty and helped transform cultural views of
masculinity and queer identity. As founder of the Athletic Model Guild
and Physique Pictorial, the first U.S. magazine to present male
imagery through a proudly gay lens, he expanded the possibilities of erotic art
and personal expression. Mizer also preserved vintage pin-ups and mass-market
ephemera. Today, the Bob Mizer Foundation continues to honor his lasting
influence on photography and LGBTQ+ history.
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Mya's Picks
Mya Adams | Cataloguer, Fine Arts, Dallas
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The use of a model as reference is a long-standing tradition
in art history, particularly in sculpture and painting. Photography introduced
a tangible way to capture and preserve a model's pose. Gil Elvgren was one such
artist who embraced this method.
This auction is pleased to offer two lots of reference
photographs used by Elvgren for paintings he created in the 1960s. Works for
the 1967 Napa Auto Parts Calendar, and A Cute Injury.
Lot 39089 includes paint splatters and visible fingerprints-likely
Elvgren's-offering compelling evidence of the photographs' direct role in his
studio practice.
In this context, photography becomes more than just a
medium; it bridges the gap between artistic preparation and the final work.
Whether used as a reference tool, collected as ephemera, or appreciated in its
own right, photography occupies a unique place in the history of art-remarkably
so, given that it has existed for less than 200 years.
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Nigel Russell
Director, Photographs,
New York
NigelR@HA.com
(212) 486-3659
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Sarahjane Blum
Director of Illustration Art,
New York
SarahjaneB@HA.com
(214) 409-1549
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Holly Sherratt
West Coast Director,
Photographs
HollyS@HA.com
(415) 548-5921
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Mya Adams
Cataloguer,
Fine Arts, Dallas
MyaA@HA.com
(214) 409-1139
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