Roger Therond's Photography Collection to Auction

Christie’s will offer Collection Roger Therond, Une passion française in Paris later this year.

The longstanding editor of Paris Match, Therond (1924-2001) had an instinct for selecting striking photographs for the magazine but was also a collector of them; his collection caused a sensation in 1999 at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris when a selection of 240 works was unveiled for the first time under the title Une passion française.

Together with his friend Daniel Filipacchi, he helped found and run the largest press group in Europe, publishing Henri Cartier-Bresson in the 1950s, and Sebastião Salgado and Helmut Newton from the 1980s onward. As a testament to his international recognition, the International Center of Photography in New York honored him “for having shaped photojournalism in Europe”, and in 2001 he received the Getty Images Lifetime Achievement Award.

Preserved by his family since his death Therond's collection of 19th and 20 century photography comprises several hundred images and will be offered across three sessions. He built it up in secrecy from the late 1960s, gathering prints and complete albums of early photographs. “I love touching an early photograph," he said. "The calotype with its haze, the salted paper with its rough texture, have charms that delight the fingertips.”

The collection runs from daguerreotypes of the 1840s as well as the surrealist experiments of the interwar years. Highlights include Gustave Le Gray’s seascapes made in Sète, and the experiments of Man Ray, and feature appearances from Victor Hugo, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Peggy Guggenheim.

“This collection offers an emotional journey through the history of photography. It speaks to all collectors, far beyond the field of photography alone,” said Elodie Morel-Bazin, Head of Photographs, Europe, Christie’s. 

Live sales will take place on September 15 and 16, and online September 8-17.