Auctions | September 19, 2024

Photographs by Paul Strand, Tina Modotti, and Hal Gould Go Under the Hammer

Heritage Auctions

Paul Strand, Young Farmer, Luzzara, Italy, 1953

Heritage Auction’s October 1 Photographs auction will include work from a rare set of photographs by Tina Modotti and her work with Louis Bunin, a selection by Paul Strand, and more than 80 works from the collection of the late Hal Gould, photographer and owner of Camera Obscura Gallery in Denver.

“The collection Gould left behind speaks of his extraordinary passion for the medium, as well as his tireless promotion of the work of other photographers,” said Laura Paterson, Heritage’s Consignment Director of Photographs. “During the gallery’s 32-year existence, Gould held more than 250 exhibitions by emerging and renowned photographers. He was responsible for organizing Sebastião Salgado’s first solo show in America, as well as welcoming luminaries such as Yousuf Karsh, Edward Curtis, Manuel Alvarez Bravo and Imogen Cunningham to Denver.”

The auction’s selection, which is the first part in a series of photographs and volumes from Gould’s collection Heritage will offer in the coming months, features examples of work by these photographers and by others Gould admired, including Dmitri Baltermants, Lucien Clergue, Mario Giacomelli, Philippe Halsman, Man Ray, Irving Penn, W. Eugene Smith, Jerry Uelsmann, Todd Webb, and Brett and Edward Weston.

Man Ray, Le Violon d'Ingres, 1924
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Heritage Auctions

Man Ray, Le Violon d'Ingres, 1924

Paul Strand, Central Park, New York, 1915
2/4
Heritage Auctions

Paul Strand, Central Park, New York, 1915

S. Salgado, Kuwait (Capping a Wellhead, Greater Burhan Oilfield), 1991
3/4
Heritage Auctions

S. Salgado, Kuwait, Capping a Wellhead, Greater Burhan Oilfield, 1991

Tina Modotti and Louis Bunin
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Heritage Auctions

Tina Modotti and Louis Bunin

Another highlight collection in the auction comes from the collaboration in 1929 between photographer Tina Modotti and artist and puppeteer Louis Bunin, capturing his marionettes in his adaption of Eugene O'Neil's play The Hairy Ape in Mexico City. Two images from this vintage group are believed to be unique, while only a handful of the other three are known to exist.

Also on offer will be a  selection of photographs by Paul Strand, from the collection of Sarah Warren Hoffman, daughter of Michael Hoffman, the first director of the Paul Strand Archive. Hoffman was given the prints by Strand’s wife Hazel, a colleague and friend of the family. These included the photograph Central Park, 1915, an early platinum print, with Strand’s unusual monogram ‘PS’.