NEW YORK, 4 April 2016 – Sotheby’s auction of Photographs in New York yesterday totaled $3,323,000, nearing its high estimate of $3.4 million. Four bidders drove Helmut Newton’s diptych ‘Sie Kommen (Dressed)' & 'Sie Kommen (Naked)’ to $670,000, well above its high estimate of $250,000 and the second-highest price for the artist at auction. Further highlights of the sale included Man Ray’s photogram Rayograph, which sold for $250,000 (est. $250/350,000), an impressive mural-sized print of Ansel Adams’s Yosemite Valley from Inspiration Point, which sold for $118,750 — more than double its high estimate of $60,000, and contemporary photographer Philip-Lorca diCorcia's W, March 2000, #12 (From Cuba Libre), which soared to $106,250 — over three times its high estimate (est. $20/30,000).

Emily Bierman, Director of Sale, said: “Today’s sale saw competitive bidding for works spanning the medium, from classic American photographs by Ansel Adams, to fashion photography by Irving Penn and contemporary images by Annie Leibovitz. Following the success of our sale in December of Robert Frank: The Americans, The Ruth and Jake Bloom Collection, there was robust interest in works by Frank; the group was led by his 1951 image Caerau, Wales, which sold for $87,500 – nearly six times its high estimate of $15,000.”

Results - Sotheby's Photographs 3 April 2016