"VERONICA'S
REVENGE":
SALE OF THE LAMBERT COLLECTION OF CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY
AT PHILLIPS DE PURY & COMPANY, NOVEMBER 8 AND 9, 2004
By BRIAN APPEL
Mike Kelley Ahh...
Youth (1991)
Eight cibachrome prints, each 24-3/8 x 17 inches
COVER November 21, 2004: Cindy Sherman Untitled #92 [Centerfold]
(1981)
Color coupler print, 24 x 48 inches
All illustrations courtesy Phillips de Pury & Company
Back in the spring,
in a timely move by the head of the third largest auction house in New
York, Simon de Pury at Phillips in Chelsea secured what is said to be
the first ever single-owner sale of contemporary photography. Monday
evening and Tuesday morning [November 8th and 9th, 2004], the two part,
180 lot collection enjoyed a rare, 100% sell-through that brought in
just shy of twelve and a half million dollars – almost four million
dollars over the auction house's own high estimate.
Falling on the heels
of their successful photography auction on the 13th and 14th of October,
and coming just three days before the contemporary art auctions on November
11 and 12th, Phillips made available this significant and innovative
collection of photo-based artworks that "...question the myth of
photography as an instrument of truth, realism and objectivity".
The cognoscente who packed into the newly red-carpeted salesroom concurred,
spontaneously bursting into applause at the conclusion of Monday evening's
sale.
For the first time
at auction, the focus here was on artists who use the camera because
the medium best perpetuates their concepts as opposed to the
more traditional, "pre-conceptual" photographers,
who use the camera as a reference point to a literal description of
how a camera sees a piece of time and space. The intriguing title of
this collection of contemporary photography was dreamed up by the collection's
curator and owner, the Baroness Marion Lambert whose husband, Baron
Phillipe Lambert is chairman of the Banque Bruxelles Lambert. Referring
to the first recorded instance of image transfer [where Berenice, a
by-stander to Jesus's march to Calvary used a cloth to wipe the sweat
off Jesus's brow and this cloth was said to retain the image of his
face], in a play on words, using "vera icon" (real image)
the Baroness renames Berenice, Veronica. The "revenge" of
Veronica is photography, as used by contemporary artists. According
to the catalogue's prologue, this photography is "...not about
dealing with the TRUE IMAGE or a representation of reality, but used
in a different way..." and, "...as the result of this new
use of an OLD medium, images become not just well composed – artistic
or documentary -- testimonies, but cultural messages".
Richard Prince Untitled
[Girlfriend on Motorcycle] (1983)
Ektacolor print, 64-3/8 x 44 inches
Influenced by its
conceptual and pop art predecessors, this was an important auction for
the entire photography market – contemporary or otherwise. Ten
records were shattered opening the gate for the medium to "break
on through" to levels reached by contemporary painting and sculpture.
The "ghetto" of photography became porous with the timing
of this sale, and the Baroness Lambert and Phillips de Pury & Company
should be commended for this opportune event.
Larry Clark's "Tulsa",
(1971), Lot #19, a portfolio of ten selected gelatin silver prints of
teens playing with guns and shooting amphetamine brought in forty-two
thousand dollars breaking its previous record set at Sotheby's in November
of 2003 by fifteen thousand. Roni Horn's "Still Water [The River
Thames, For Example]", (1999), Lot #27, a portfolio of fifteen
offset lithographs on paper of variations of water patterns reached
ninety-six thousand, thirty-three thousand above her previous record
at auction at Sotheby's in November, 1991. Nan Goldin's "Cookie
Mueller Portfolio", (1989), Lot #33, a fifteen cibachrome print
record of the artist's friendship surpassed her November '99 record
at Christie's by over thirty-seven thousand landing in at just over
one hundred five thousand. Nobuyoshi Araki's "Tokoyo Cube",
(1994), Lot # 36, a thirty-six piece, black and white photographic diary
of sorts smashed the previous record at Sotheby's in June of '03 by
over forty-one thousand to bring in fifty thousand, four hundred. Cindy
Sherman's "Untitled No. 92 [Centerfold]", (1981), Lot #37,
a work commissioned and ultimately rejected by ARTFORUM magazine brought
in a whooping $478,400, $142 thousand over her previous Christie's record
in May, '01. Mike Kelley's "Ah... Youth", (1991), Lot #43,
eight cibachromes of stuffed dolls surrounding a self-portrait hit $411,200,
$200 thousand over his June, '04 previous record at Phillips. Louise
Lawler's "Monogram", (1994), Lot #51, a cibachrome of a perfectly
made bed with a Jasper John's "White Flag" painting above
it, brought in $69 thousand more than her May, 2000 record at Christie's
hitting $125,600. Peter Fischli & David Weiss's "Stiller Nachmittag
[Quiet Afternoon]", (1984-1986), Lot #56, a portfolio of eleven
photographic works brought in $243,200, just over $78 thousand beyond
their previous May, '04 Phillips record. Sam Taylor-Wood's "Wrecked",
(1996), Lot #63, a 156 inch c-print of "The Last Supper",
toppled her November, 2000 Phillips record of $32 thousand, landing
in at $142,400. And last, but not least, Barbara Kruger's "Untitled
[I Shop Therefore I Am]", (1983), Lot #65, an iconic work of feminism
and consumerism brought in $493,600 more than her Sotheby's previous
record in November '03 at $601,630.
Richard Prince,
Matthew Barney, Charles Ray, Andreas Gurskey, Gabriel Orozco, Jeff Wall,
Bernd & Hilla Becher, Thomas Ruff, Thomas Struth, Thomas Schutte,
Gilbert and George and Andy Warhol, all artists who innovatively use
the medium, brought in hammer prices well above their high estimates.
You could say that,
with the advent of digital photography, the artist no longer has to
wait for the "perfect moment" to snap the picture. You could
also say, that it's not the medium that makes these works of art spectacular.
In fact, what we have here is a brilliant individual collector who anticipated
the greater critical acceptance of these works well before the curve
of art history.
