Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
The remarkable selection of photographs offered in this online auction comes from the collection of Peter C. Bunnell (1937-2021), the pioneering curator, teacher, and photographic historian. In 1972, Bunnell curated the retrospective Barbara Morgan: Photographs at The Museum of Modern Art. The exhibition showcased the breadth of her work across several decades, from photomontage to her iconic dance photographs, produced over a multi-year collaboration with Martha Graham beginning in 1935. Another print of the image on offer, Martha Graham – Letter to the World (The Kick), was displayed alongside 47 other photographs.
Images of the exhibition catalogue for Barbara Morgan: Photographs, 1972 at The Museum of Modern Art. “Working along with her subjects, not in performance but in studios, and fundamentally out of her own creative needs, Morgan recorded not so much the literal dance as the essential gestural aspect of life that the dance symbolized. Each dance was reconceived for the camera and its actions were condensed to those movements that are the most eloquent, the most complete. The connective movements of the overall rhythmic structure were omitted and the thematic movements, those that contain the essence of the dance, isolated, generally at the point of their climactic clarity.”
—Peter C. Bunnell, Inside the Photograph, p. 84
Bunnell began his long career in photography as a student of Minor White’s at the Rochester Institute of Technology in the 1950s and was recruited by White to work on the seminal periodical of artistic photography, Aperture. He joined the staff of The Museum of Modern Art in 1966 as a collection cataloguer, becoming Associate Curator and then Curator of Photography. At MoMA he curated the noteworthy exhibitions Photography as Printmaking (1968), Photography into Sculpture (1970), and the first retrospective of the work of Clarence H. White (1971). In 1972, he was hired as the inaugural David Hunter McAlpin Professor of the History of Photography and Modern Art at Princeton University.
Bunnell served as Director of the Princeton University Art Museum from 1973 to 1978, and as Acting Director from 1998 to 2000, and was also the Museum’s Curator of Photography throughout the entirety of his tenure. Bunnell built a broad-ranging collection of photographs at the Museum, the firsthand examination of which became a central element of the student experience in his classes and seminars. Bunnell also assembled a personal collection of photography over the course of his long career that reflects his vast and deep understanding of the medium. Begun in the 1950s, before photography galleries and dealers were commonplace, Bunnell’s collection is a deeply personal one, put together with a sense of joy and curiosity that includes both icons and lesser-known gems spanning the history of photography.
Nearly all lots are sold with No Reserve and the proceeds will be distributed to six institutions with whom Bunnell was associated — Rochester Institute of Technology, Ohio University, Yale University, The George Eastman Museum, The Museum of Modern Art, and Princeton University Art Museum — to establish endowments to support the study of photographic history.Provenance
Collection of Peter C. Bunnell, Princeton, New Jersey
Literature
Aperture, Masters of Photography: Barbara Morgan, cover
High Museum of Art, Chorus of Light: Photographs from the Sir Elton John Collection, p. 181
Newhall, The History of Photography, p. 232
Inside the Photograph: Further Selections from the Peter C. Bunnell Collection
41
Lot offered with No Reserve
Martha Graham - Letter to the World (The Kick)
1940
Gelatin silver print, printed 1970.
10 1/4 x 13 1/2 in. (26 x 34.3 cm)
Signed, titled, and dated in pencil on the mount; signed, titled, dated, inscribed 'Archivally Printed - 1970' in ink and copyright credit reproduction stamp on the reverse of the mount.
Estimate
$2,000 - 3,000 •
Sold for $3,810
Christopher Mahoney
Senior International Specialist
cmahoney@phillips.com
Vanessa Hallett
Worldwide Head of Photographs and Deputy Chairwoman
vhallett@phillips.com
Inside the Photograph: Further Selections from the Peter C. Bunnell Collection
10 - 17 October 2023
1No Reserve
Minor White
Sandblaster, San Francisco
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000 •
Sold for $4,445
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
2No Reserve
Minor White
Attic Door, 72 N. Union Street, Rochester, New York
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000 •
Sold for $1,397
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
3No Reserve
Jerry Uelsmann
Reminiscing About the Future
Estimate $1,500 - 2,500 •
Sold for $2,413
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
4No Reserve
Jerry Uelsmann
Untitled (House and Statuary Head)
Estimate $1,000 - 1,500 •
Sold for $2,159
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
5No Reserve
Lynton Wells
AYYYY74
Estimate $1,000 - 1,500 •
Sold for $381
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
6No Reserve
Eugène Atget
A la Biche, rue Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire
Estimate $1,500 - 2,500 •
Sold for $1,016
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
7
Edward Steichen
Laughing Boxes, West 86th St., New York City
Estimate $12,000 - 18,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
8No Reserve
Harry Callahan
Rome
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000 •
Sold for $1,016
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
9No Reserve
Jerry Uelsmann
Totemic Aspen
Estimate $700 - 900 •
Sold for $2,159
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
10No Reserve
Emmet Gowin
El Khazneh from the Siq, Petra, Jordan
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000 •
Sold for $4,826
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
11No Reserve
Michael Kenna
Three Selected Images
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000 •
Sold for $1,397
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
12No Reserve
Wynn Bullock
Three Nature Studies
Estimate $5,000 - 7,000 •
Sold for $2,159
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
13No Reserve
Jerry Uelsmann
Five Selected Images
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000 •
Sold for $7,620
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
14No Reserve
Harry Callahan
Collages
Estimate $6,000 - 8,000 •
Sold for $8,255
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
15No Reserve
Harry Callahan
Cape Cod
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000 •
Sold for $1,270
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
16No Reserve
John Szarkowski
Wind Change, Sarah Lake
Estimate $1,000 - 2,000 •
Sold for $635
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
17No Reserve
Emmet Gowin
Post, Danville, VA
Estimate $1,000 - 1,500 •
Sold for $2,286
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
18No Reserve
Emmet Gowin
Dry Wash and Watering Hole, Near the Very Large Array, Magdelena, New Mexico
Estimate $2,500 - 3,500 •
Sold for $4,064
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
19No Reserve
Jerry Uelsmann
Four Selected Images
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000 •
Sold for $1,524
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
20No Reserve
Minor White
Wall, San Luis, New Mexico
Estimate $5,000 - 7,000 •
Sold for $10,795
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
21No Reserve
Minor White
For Edward Weston, 3 Jan. 58 (Fall Creek, Vicinity of Geneseo, New York)
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000 •
Sold for $8,890
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
22
Edward Weston
Shell and Rock - Arrangement
Estimate $15,000 - 25,000
Sold for $13,970
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
23No Reserve
Brett Weston
Yucca Valley, California
Estimate $2,500 - 3,500 •
Sold for $1,016
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
24No Reserve
Brett Weston
Dunes, Nevada
Estimate $6,000 - 8,000 •
Sold for $7,620
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
25No Reserve
Edward Weston
Three Selected Studies of Neil Weston, the Photographer's Son
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000 •
Sold for $445
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
26No Reserve
Brett Weston
White Sands, New Mexico
Estimate $2,500 - 3,500 •
Sold for $1,524
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
27No Reserve
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Alfred Stieglitz
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000 •
Sold for $5,715
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
28
Alfred Stieglitz
Poplars, Lake George
Estimate $10,000 - 15,000
Sold for $33,020
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
29No Reserve
Edward Steichen
Gertrude Käsebier
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000 •
Sold for $508
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
30
Edward Steichen
Backbone and Ribs of a Sunflower
Estimate $12,000 - 18,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
31No Reserve
Paul Strand
The Mexican Portfolio
Estimate $1,500 - 2,500 •
Sold for $1,080
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
32No Reserve
Minor White
The Three Thirds (Pike, New York)
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000 •
Sold for $10,795
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
33No Reserve
Minor White
Three Selected Images: Splintered Door (Macedon, New York)
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000 •
Sold for $5,715
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
34No Reserve
Thomas Joshua Cooper
Five Selected Images
Estimate $5,000 - 7,000 •
Sold for $1,397
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
35No Reserve
Ruth Bernhard
Skull and Rosary
Estimate $500 - 700 •
Sold for $826
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
36No Reserve
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Brook in Nara
Estimate $2,500 - 3,500 •
Sold for $2,413
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
37No Reserve
Henri Cartier-Bresson
The Tuileries Gardens, Paris, France
Estimate $1,200 - 1,800 •
Sold for $4,064
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
38No Reserve
W. Eugene Smith
Burial at Sea, from the U.S.S. Bunker Hill Marshall Islands Campaign
Estimate $1,500 - 2,500 •
Sold for $1,778
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
39No Reserve
Minor White
Parking Lot (Battery Street, San Francisco)
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000 •
Sold for $2,540
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
40No Reserve
Lee Friedlander
Two Selected Images
Estimate $6,000 - 8,000 •
Sold for $3,556
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
41No Reserve
Barbara Morgan
Martha Graham - Letter to the World (The Kick)
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000 •
Sold for $3,810
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
42No Reserve
Barbara Morgan
Graham - "El Penitente" (Solo - Hawkins - "El Flagellante")
Estimate $800 - 1,200 •
Sold for $1,016
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
43No Reserve
Ken Ohara
Three Selected Images
Estimate $1,000 - 2,000 •
Sold for $3,556
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
44No Reserve
Aaron Siskind
Arizpe, Mexico 21
Estimate $1,000 - 1,500 •
Sold for $4,064
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
45No Reserve
Elliott Erwitt
Venice
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000 •
Sold for $3,048
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
46No Reserve
Minor White
Four Selected Images
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000 •
Sold for $2,794
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
47No Reserve
Yasuhiro Ishimoto
Five Selected Abstract Studies
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000 •
Sold for $5,080
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
48No Reserve
Yasuhiro Ishimoto
Five Selected Floral Studies
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000 •
Sold for $2,794
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.