After serving as an aerial photographer during World War I, Edward Steichen resumed life at his home in Voulangis, outside Paris, and began to refine a new method of photographing. The technical challenges involved in making a successful exposure from a juddering airplane had enforced upon the young photographer a different relationship with the medium. After the War, he began to investigate what could be done aesthetically with a sharper focus and a straightforward printing style. These images were a marked departure from the Impressionism of his early photographs and paved the way not only for his own future work, but for the general trend in serious photography in the years to come.

During this period, he concentrated primarily on the natural world, especially his beloved flowers, and on his metaphysical still-life studies such as Time Space Continuum and Diagram of Doom. He also made occasional trips to New York City at the time, and there he began to explore the urban environment with his newfound clarity of vision. Laughing Boxes, West 86 St., is a signature image from this period. The photograph expands upon the Modernist explorations begun in France and represents a starting point for the photographs he would make of the New York cityscape after moving there permanently in 1923. With its clear account of detail and texture and the charming anthropomorphism of the titular boxes, the composition shows Steichen employing, in equal portions, his considerable technical abilities and his lively wit.

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. 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.

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.
- Provenance
  Collection of Peter C. Bunnell, Princeton, New Jersey
- Literature
  Steichen, A Life in Photography, pl. 90
  Steichen, J., Steichen's Legacy: Photographs, 1895 - 1973, pl. 206

Inside the Photograph: Further Selections from the Peter C. Bunnell Collection

7

Edward Steichen

Laughing Boxes, West 86th St., New York City

1922
Gelatin silver print.
9 5/8 x 7 1/2 in. (24.4 x 19.1 cm)
Titled in an unidentified hand in pencil on the verso.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$12,000 - 18,000

Contact Specialist

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
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2No Reserve
Minor White
Attic Door, 72 N. Union Street, Rochester, New York
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000 •
Sold for $1,397
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3No Reserve
Jerry Uelsmann
Reminiscing About the Future
Estimate $1,500 - 2,500 •
Sold for $2,413
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4No Reserve
Jerry Uelsmann
Untitled (House and Statuary Head)
Estimate $1,000 - 1,500 •
Sold for $2,159
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5No Reserve
Lynton Wells
AYYYY74
Estimate $1,000 - 1,500 •
Sold for $381
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6No Reserve
Eugène Atget
A la Biche, rue Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire
Estimate $1,500 - 2,500 •
Sold for $1,016
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7
Edward Steichen
Laughing Boxes, West 86th St., New York City
Estimate $12,000 - 18,000
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8No Reserve
Harry Callahan
Rome
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000 •
Sold for $1,016
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9No Reserve
Jerry Uelsmann
Totemic Aspen
Estimate $700 - 900 •
Sold for $2,159
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10No Reserve
Emmet Gowin
El Khazneh from the Siq, Petra, Jordan
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000 •
Sold for $4,826
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11No Reserve
Michael Kenna
Three Selected Images
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000 •
Sold for $1,397
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12No Reserve
Wynn Bullock
Three Nature Studies
Estimate $5,000 - 7,000 •
Sold for $2,159
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13No Reserve
Jerry Uelsmann
Five Selected Images
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000 •
Sold for $7,620
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14No Reserve
Harry Callahan
Collages
Estimate $6,000 - 8,000 •
Sold for $8,255
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15No Reserve
Harry Callahan
Cape Cod
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000 •
Sold for $1,270
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16No Reserve
John Szarkowski
Wind Change, Sarah Lake
Estimate $1,000 - 2,000 •
Sold for $635
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17No Reserve
Emmet Gowin
Post, Danville, VA
Estimate $1,000 - 1,500 •
Sold for $2,286
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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
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19No Reserve
Jerry Uelsmann
Four Selected Images
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000 •
Sold for $1,524
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20No Reserve
Minor White
Wall, San Luis, New Mexico
Estimate $5,000 - 7,000 •
Sold for $10,795
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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
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22
Edward Weston
Shell and Rock - Arrangement
Estimate $15,000 - 25,000
Sold for $13,970
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23No Reserve
Brett Weston
Yucca Valley, California
Estimate $2,500 - 3,500 •
Sold for $1,016
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24No Reserve
Brett Weston
Dunes, Nevada
Estimate $6,000 - 8,000 •
Sold for $7,620
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25No Reserve
Edward Weston
Three Selected Studies of Neil Weston, the Photographer's Son
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000 •
Sold for $445
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26No Reserve
Brett Weston
White Sands, New Mexico
Estimate $2,500 - 3,500 •
Sold for $1,524
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27No Reserve
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Alfred Stieglitz
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000 •
Sold for $5,715
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28
Alfred Stieglitz
Poplars, Lake George
Estimate $10,000 - 15,000
Sold for $33,020
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29No Reserve
Edward Steichen
Gertrude Käsebier
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000 •
Sold for $508
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30
Edward Steichen
Backbone and Ribs of a Sunflower
Estimate $12,000 - 18,000
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31No Reserve
Paul Strand
The Mexican Portfolio
Estimate $1,500 - 2,500 •
Sold for $1,080
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32No Reserve
Minor White
The Three Thirds (Pike, New York)
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000 •
Sold for $10,795
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33No Reserve
Minor White
Three Selected Images: Splintered Door (Macedon, New York)
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000 •
Sold for $5,715
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34No Reserve
Thomas Joshua Cooper
Five Selected Images
Estimate $5,000 - 7,000 •
Sold for $1,397
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35No Reserve
Ruth Bernhard
Skull and Rosary
Estimate $500 - 700 •
Sold for $826
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36No Reserve
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Brook in Nara
Estimate $2,500 - 3,500 •
Sold for $2,413
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37No Reserve
Henri Cartier-Bresson
The Tuileries Gardens, Paris, France
Estimate $1,200 - 1,800 •
Sold for $4,064
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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
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39No Reserve
Minor White
Parking Lot (Battery Street, San Francisco)
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000 •
Sold for $2,540
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40No Reserve
Lee Friedlander
Two Selected Images
Estimate $6,000 - 8,000 •
Sold for $3,556
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41No Reserve
Barbara Morgan
Martha Graham - Letter to the World (The Kick)
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000 •
Sold for $3,810
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42No Reserve
Barbara Morgan
Graham - "El Penitente" (Solo - Hawkins - "El Flagellante")
Estimate $800 - 1,200 •
Sold for $1,016
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43No Reserve
Ken Ohara
Three Selected Images
Estimate $1,000 - 2,000 •
Sold for $3,556
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44No Reserve
Aaron Siskind
Arizpe, Mexico 21
Estimate $1,000 - 1,500 •
Sold for $4,064
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45No Reserve
Elliott Erwitt
Venice
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000 •
Sold for $3,048
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46No Reserve
Minor White
Four Selected Images
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000 •
Sold for $2,794
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47No Reserve
Yasuhiro Ishimoto
Five Selected Abstract Studies
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000 •
Sold for $5,080
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48No Reserve
Yasuhiro Ishimoto
Five Selected Floral Studies
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000 •
Sold for $2,794
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Inside the Photograph: Further Selections from...

10 - 17 October 2023

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Provenance

Literature

7

Edward Steichen

Laughing Boxes, West 86th St., New York City

Inside the Photograph: Further Selections from the Peter C. Bunnell Collection

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