Ansel Adams (American, 1902-1984) Leaves and Raindrops, Glacier Bay National Monument, c. 1948 (Lot 142, Estimate: $15,000-25,000)

Among the highlights of Skinner’s May 19th Fine Photographs auction are two mural-sized gelatin silver prints by noted photographer Ansel Adams. Adams was a founding member, along with Imogen Cunningham, Edward Weston, and others, of Group f/64, a San Francisco Bay Area-based alliance of eleven American photographers that formed in 1932.… Read More

Alex Katz (American, b. 1927) Ada with Flowers, 1980 (Lot 89, Estimate: $6,000-8,000)

BOSTON, MA – Skinner, Inc. will present an impressive selection of American & European Works of Art at auction on Friday, May 19. The day will be divided into two parts: Fine Prints & Photographs at 12PM and Fine Paintings & Sculpture at 4PM. The auction offers an extensive variety of paintings, sculpture, prints, photographs, and works on paper ranging from Old Master prints through Modern and Contemporary offerings.… Read More

Alexander Calder (American, 1898-1976) Untitled (Standing Mobile, c. 1965) (Sold for $471,000)

Outstanding auctions on January 27 offered 475 lots that included a wide choice of pre-20th-century material as well as a notable quantity of Modern and Contemporary artwork in all categories: paintings, sculpture, prints and photographs. Today’s collectors, notes Robin S. R. Starr, Director of American & European Works of Art, are especially eager for 20th and 21st-century material; call it the millennial effect.… Read More

BOSTON, MA – Skinner, Inc. presents an outstanding two-session auction on Friday, January 27 in its Boston gallery.  Fine Prints & Photographs starts at 12PM, followed by  Fine Paintings & Sculpture at 4PM. Previews will be held on Wednesday, January 25, 12 to 5PM; Thursday, January 26, 12 to 8PM; and Friday, January 27, 9 to 10AM.

Robin S. R. Starr, Vice President and Director of American & European Works of Art, notes that in addition to a broad selection of pre-20th-century material, the auction offers an especially robust quantity of modern and contemporary work in all categories.… Read More

From the August 2016 Issue | Journal of the Print World

The New England region, and Boston in particular, has played an important role in the history of photography, from its earliest days in the nineteenth century to a broad range of contemporary practice that embraces, but also expands upon, the medium today.

The root of the word photography comes from the Greek language and means “drawing with light.” While there had been previous attempts to make images permanent, this relatively recent medium emerged in the 1830s with the announcement of groundbreaking photographic processes developed by Louis-Jacques- Mandé Daguerre in France and William Henry Fox Talbot in England.… Read More

BOSTON, MA – Skinner, Inc. will present a strong selection of fine photographs for beginning and experienced collectors in its September 23, 2016, Fine Prints & Photographs auction, which opens for bidding at 12PM. The sale of 61 lots features works by modern and contemporary masters including Ansel Adams, Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Walker Evans, and Annie Leibovitz in addition to a special themed section celebrating photography in Boston and New England.… Read More

Arnold Newman (American, 1918-2006) Andrew Wyeth, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, 1948, printed 1970s (Lot 101, Estimate $1,000-$1,500)

In 1972, the publisher Harry N. Abrams announced a program offering thirty limited edition black-and-white prints by ten eminent photographers. Each photograph (in editions of 99) was made from the original negative by the artist, assisted by a master printer from a custom lab. The photographers, representing a range of practices from photojournalism to creative photography, included Wynn Bullock, Eliot Elisofon, Ernst Haas, Philippe Halsman, Ken Heyman, Arnold Newman, Gordon Parks, Marc Riboud, Aaron Siskind, and Howard Sochurek.… Read More

I’m a bit of a process geek when it comes to nineteenth-century photography. Technology advanced in such rapid and interesting ways during the early years of the medium’s existence. Photographers were constantly experimenting with, combining, and improving upon formulas for making negatives and developing and fixing images. A good example of these innovations—a salt print (Lot 76, Estimate $3,000-5,000) made from a waxed paper negative by the French-born American archaeologist John Beasley Greene (1832-1856)—is one of the highlights of Skinner’s January 22 Fine Prints & Photographs auction.… Read More

Michelle Lamunière, Skinner’s Fine Photographs Specialist, contributed an article about navigating the world of collecting fine art photographs to the May 2015 issue of Southeastern Antiquing and Collecting Magazine.

“If you’re a beginner collector or a seasoned one looking to explore a new art form, photographs are an excellent option. Because it is a reproductive medium like printmaking, photography offers an extraordinary variety of imagery, often at a more reasonable price point than paintings and sculpture.… Read More

Aaron Siskind (American, 1903-1991) Gloucester 1H, 1944, printed later (Lot 163, Estimate $2,000-$3,000)

Skinner’s January 23 Fine Photographs auction in Boston features eight lots by the important 20th century American photographer Aaron Siskind. Skinner has regularly sold work by this popular artist—in fact our highest selling photography lot was a suite of ten prints from Siskind’s Pleasures and Terrors of Levitation series that hammered at $35,000 in 2013!… Read More