In a moment of history marked by a thin line separating the boundaries between art dealers and auction houses, Phillips de Pury seems even more determined to confuse these roles, by undertaking a new mission: to represent Annie Leibovitz, as a reseller for US photography.
According to the chairman of the renowned auction house, Simon De Pury, Leibovitz approached Phillips de Pury thanks to Charlie Scheips, international director for the department of photography since 2007, who has known the famous artist since 1987, when he worked as chief assistant for David Hockney. After this approach De Pury met Leibovitz to discuss this particular “alliance agreement”, which will certainly offer better opportunities to the photographer. Indeed, Phillips de Pury will curate Leibovitz’s “master set”, that is a selection of the 200 most representative works of her poetics, and her archive, while the New York agency Art+Commerce will continue to manage her more commercial works. 

If the auction prices for works of contemporary art have risen enormously, the sector of photography  has certainly not been left behind, given that lately we have been witnessing actual exploits of photograph sales. Many photographers now reach very high prices It is certainly a difficult market compared to the market of more “traditional” arts, but it is slowly emerging and attracting a great number of people who are passionate about  it.

translated by Giorgina Arcuri

“Photographs”,  held on 17th May 2008 by Phillips de Pury & Co. London auction house, realized takings equal to 1,325,835 pounds. An interesting sale offering some of the most important names of historical and contemporary photography: Man Ray, Henri-Cartier Bresson, Irving Penn, but also Helmut Newton, David LaChapelle, Cindy Sherman and Andres Serrano.

translated by Giorgina Arcuri

On 15th May “Photographs” was held at Christie’s London, a great occasion for collectors of the category who are passionate about works by the most famous names in the history of photography, but also more contemporary artistic figures.
An interesting sale that, despite not achieving a great stir, presented 114 lots fetching 1,402,525 pounds with a 72% sale percentage.

Article translated by Amritee Mahabir

 

Jan Fabre is one of the most important and extraordinary Belgian contemporary artists, he recently appeared to be particularly bothered by the Pharaoh exhibition declaring: “Personally, I believe in small projects made for few people. Art is not democratic. It is like being on the beach, a crowd of ten thousand people arrives and you no longer enjoy it”.