Eliot Porter - Photographs New York Tuesday, October 1, 2019 | Phillips

Photographs

New York Auction 1 October 2019

  • Literature

    Lynes, Georgia O’Keeffe: Museum Collections, pl. 328

  • Catalogue Essay

    The Feminist Thread: Photographs from the Collection of Helen Kornblum contains classic images by luminaries in the history of photography such as Berenice Abbott, Diane Arbus and Lisette Model as well as pioneering works by critically acclaimed contemporary artists including Nan Goldin, Annette Messager, Catherine Opie, Cindy Sherman, and Hannah Wilke. That they are primarily by women is no coincidence.

    Over forty years ago, when Helen Kornblum first conceived this collection, these artists were not necessarily internationally known nor critically discussed. In fact, despite women actively participating in the medium since its inception in the mid-19th Century, their work was not widely recognized nor celebrated within the canon. It was with this in mind that Kornblum embarked on her collecting journey with a conscious effort to shift the public’s attention to what had been heretofore ignored.

    Kornblum’s investigation as a collector culminated in the groundbreaking 1997 exhibition and publication with The Saint Louis Art Museum, Defining Eye: Women Photographers of the 20th Century, Selections from the Helen Kornblum Collection. Thanks to the devoted efforts of Kornblum, curators, museums, gallerists and writers, including Dr. Naomi Rosenblum whose 1994 book, A History of Women Photographers, was the first publication focused solely on women’s contributions to photography, there is today a growing awareness of the cultural and institutional blind spots that limit us from the full spectrum of who creates art. Phillips is proud to present The Feminist Thread, a selection of works in which the voices of a wide variety of women photographers brightly resound.

The Feminist Thread: Photographs from the Collection of Helen Kornblum

102

Eliot Porter

Georgia O’Keeffe and Head of O’Keeffe by Mary Callery, Ghost Ranch, New Mexico

1945
Gelatin silver print, printed later.
9 1/2 x 7 1/2 in. (24.1 x 19.1 cm)
Signed in pencil on the mount; credit stamp on the reverse of the mount.

Estimate
$3,000 - 5,000 

Sold for $4,750

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Photographs

New York Auction 1 October 2019