William Eggleston, Memphis from Los Alamos, circa 1965–68. Color Vision: Masterworks by William Eggleston from Guy Stricherz and Irene Malli.
In Williams Eggleston’s photographs, everyday sights become extraordinary, guiding viewers to the beauty and lush diversity in the quotidian. Eggleston’s transformative vision found its ideal print format in the dye transfer process, and his ultimate conception came to life through his collaboration with printers Guy Stricherz and Irene Malli of Color Vision Imaging Laboratory. On 18 March, Phillips brings an unprecedented offering of Eggleston’s finest dye transfer work to the public with Color Vision: Masterworks by William Eggleston from Guy Stricherz and Irene Malli. The works in this auction, and in future sales throughout 2025, are all the perfected master prints by which subsequent prints in a respective edition were judged.
At a time when color photography was primarily associated with the commercial world, Eggleston offered the public a new way to see. His seminal 1976 solo exhibition, Photographs by William Eggleston, at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, along with the accompanying book, William Eggleston’s Guide, brought his work widespread attention. However, his initial exploration of color photography can be seen in the work he created earlier, between 1965 and 1974, later collected in the monumental Los Alamos portfolio. These images synthesize the Lyric Documentary tradition in photography with the vivid color saturation of Pop Art to create an entirely new kind of imagery for the 20th century.
William Eggleston, Memphis from Los Alamos, circa 1971–74. Color Vision: Masterworks by William Eggleston from Guy Stricherz and Irene Malli.
Before Los Alamos, Eggleston worked in black-and-white, but advancements in color negative film motivated him to experiment. These initial trials evolved into a lifetime’s work that fundamentally changed the perception of color photography in a fine art context.
Many of the photographs of Los Alamos were captured on Eggleston’s road trips, which he frequently undertook with his close friend, the legendary curator Walter Hopps. During a 2004 panel discussion at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Hopps recalled stopping roadside with Eggleston in New Mexico near Los Alamos. When Eggleston asked him what Los Alamos was, Hopps remembers, “I said, ‘That’s the secret laboratory, years ago, where they developed the atomic bomb.’ Bill turned to me and said, ‘I wish I had a secret laboratory.’”
In a sense, Eggleston did find that “secret laboratory” in Guy Stricherz’s and Irene Malli’s Color Vision Imaging Laboratory (CVI Lab). Here, we showcase select highlights from Color Vision: Masterworks by William Eggleston from Guy Stricherz and Irene Malli.
“They’re the only printers I know of in the world that are as good as they are. And I have tried every one I can find.”
—William Eggleston on Guy Stricherz and Irene Malli
Los Alamos
William Eggleston, Untitled (En Route to New Orleans) from Los Alamos, circa 1971–74. Color Vision: Masterworks by William Eggleston from Guy Stricherz and Irene Malli.
This rare complete portfolio of 101 prints represents William Eggleston’s pivotal early work in color, predating his landmark solo exhibition at MoMA. Comprising some of Eggleston’s most iconic imagery of the American South and beyond, very few were printed at the time as the artist was dissatisfied with the lackluster chromogenic printing then available. He left the largely unprinted negatives with Walter Hopps. Years later, Hopps was instrumental in selecting 75 of these images with Eggleston to be realized as dye transfer prints, creating the Los Alamos portfolio. Following Hopps’s passing in 2005, more negatives from this early period were unearthed in his estate, and the original portfolio was augmented by two suites of 13 dye transfer prints each, known as Cousins and Lost and Found, creating this definitive and unique set of 101 of Los Alamos photographs. The rich saturation of color of these dye transfer prints is the direct result of the skills and foresight of Guy Stricherz and Irene Malli, who secured essential materials for the process after Kodak discontinued them.
This is the first time the complete, comprehensive set of 101 individual dye transfer prints has appeared at auction.
The Magnificent Seven
William Eggleston, Memphis (tricycle), 1970. Color Vision: Masterworks by William Eggleston from Guy Stricherz and Irene Malli.
This iconic work is from a group of large-format dye transfer prints known as The Magnificent Seven that William Eggleston made in 2015. These seven photographs are his most recognized and celebrated works, and each is the largest dye transfer print of the image ever produced. Memphis (Tricycle) is the defining image from Eggleston’s breakthrough exhibition at MoMA and was illustrated on the exhibition catalogue’s cover. The work showcases Eggleston’s distinctive compositional approach, its low vantage point monumentalizing the visual impact of a child’s tricycle in the Southern suburban environment.
This sale marks the first time that photographs from The Magnificent Seven have appeared at auction.
William Eggleston, Untitled (Peaches!), 1973. Color Vision: Masterworks by William Eggleston from Guy Stricherz and Irene Malli.
Untitled (Peaches!) exemplifies Eggleston’s exceptional control of exposure, allowing him to portray the essence of late afternoon light as it envelopes a signature subject of his — signage in the American South. The dye transfer process perfectly conveys this scene’s saturated colors and visual intensity. Along with all works in this sale, it underscores the technical precision and collaborative enthusiasm of Guy Stricherz and Irene Malli, who have made hundreds of editions for William Eggleston through extensive proofing, conversation, and partnership.
“The photograph is still powerful. It shocks you every time.”
—William Eggleston on ‘Greenwood, Mississippi (red ceiling)’
William Eggleston, Greenwood, Mississippi (red ceiling), 1973. Color Vision: Masterworks by William Eggleston from Guy Stricherz and Irene Malli.
Greenwood, Mississippi (red ceiling) is one of Eggleston’s most potent works. His celebrated lyrical treatment of the color red reaches its zenith within this striking composition. The dye transfer process is the perfect medium for this image as no other printing process before or since can produce a red of such saturated intensity. Eggleston’s requirements for this print were high, and master printers Stricherz and Malli were ideally suited to bringing his concept of perfect color into being. Eggleston said of this image that he has never been satisfied with reproductions of it, but “When you look at a dye transfer print, it’s like it’s red blood that is wet on the wall.”
The preview exhibition at Phillips’ sprawling gallery at 432 Park Avenue is a rare opportunity to discover the undisputed master prints of William Eggleston’s finest works in their most perfect form. This exclusive preview from 11–17 March allows the public to discover these works as they were meant to be seen.
Recommended Reading
A Life’s Work in Vivid Color >