Behind the Lens: Trailblazing Female Photographers
Since photography’s inception, women have been at the forefront of the medium’s formation and development. From the 19th century to the present day, female artists embraced photography’s myriad possibilities – encompassing the realms of politics, fashion, war, modernist image-making and self-representation. A strong selection of works by Helen Levitt is available alongside covetable images by Julia Margaret Cameron, Francesca Woodman, Ana Mendieta, Sandy Skoglund, and Diane Arbus. Amongst the sale’s top lots are outstanding works by Imogen Cunningham and Margaret Bourke-White. Cunningham, a pioneer of Modernist photography, is represented by a luminous large print of Orchid Cactus (Cactus Blossom) (estimate $120/180,000). A prime example of the famous flower studies that garnered the artist international renown, no other print of this early image has been located. Ever the fearless photographer, Margaret Bourke-White captured her famous Gargoyle, Chrysler Building, NYC (estimate $250/350,000) by climbing out onto the structure, 800 feet above the street, to photograph the city. The work is further distinguished by its provenance, having last appeared on the market in the landmark 2006 Sotheby’s sale Important Photographs From The Metropolitan Museum Of Art, Including Works From The Gilman Paper Company, which established the current world auction record for the photographer.

Contemporary Photographs
The sale also includes numerous important contemporary photographs, including works by Thomas Struth, Nobuyoshi Araki, Gregory Crewdson, and Robert Heinecken, among others. Notable artists making their debut at auction include Mishka Henner, with Less Américains, a contemporary remake of Robert Frank’s seminal 1958 photobook The Americans (estimate $25/35,000) and Mark Hogancamp, whose harrowing life-story was recently documented in the 2018 feature-length film 'Welcome to Marwen' starring Steve Carell. Saving The Major is one of the many photographs that captures Hogancamp’s miniature World War II town he named Marwencol (estimate $10/15,000).