Price points in the photography market tend to be significantly lower, and pegged at a more affordable level, than contemporary art market price ranges. The majority of the 168 galleries participating at the 22nd edition of the Paris Photo fair, held at the Grand Palais (until 11 November), are selling works costing less than €100,000 (though there are exceptions). “The sweet spot at this fair seems to be the €10,000 to €50,000 tranche,” says a New York-based dealer who preferred to remain anonymous.
Under €10,000: RoseGallery of Santa Monica, California, is showing works by Jo Ann Callis, the Ohio-born photographer. On sale for €5,500 is her Milk Bath (1979) in a limited edition of five and two artist’s proofs. Rose Shoshana, the gallery founder, says that Callis’ prices are “more democratic, appealing to first-time collectors. She’s new to the market.” Other key works at the lower end include a series of gelatin silver prints by the late French photographer Robert Doisneau; his Le Baiser de l’Opéra (1950) is available with Peter Fetterman gallery, priced at $5,500. The Doisneau works were “printed later”, which is specified on many of the works at the gallery. Images taken during 1960s Nasa missions, on show at Daniel Blau gallery of Munich, are also a talking point, priced between €2,500 and €3,500. “This is a piece of history,” Blau says. “The market for photojournalism is steady and growing.” Jo Ann Callis, Milk Bath (1979)
€10,000-€100,000: ROSEGALLERY is also selling a series of images by William Eggleston whose market has bounced in the past five years (his top ten auction prices have all been achieved in the past decade). “He is considered the father of colour photography,” Shoshana says. Eggleston’s piece Untitled from Dust Bells, Volume II (1970) costs €68,550 (limited edition of 15). William Eggleston's Untitled from Dust Bells. Volume II (1970)
Meanwhile, New York’s Steven Kasher gallery is bringing the under-the-radar work of the US photographer Joan Lyons, aged 81, to the attention of collectors and connoisseurs. “Lyons is an early feminist photographer. People are interested now in marginal identities and perspectives,” Kasher says. This 1969 silkscreen, Bedspread, priced at $90,000 is at the top end of works available; Lyons’ lithographs, entitled Untitled (from the Presences Portfolio) (1980) cost $7,000 each. Joan Lyons' Bedspread (1969)
€100,000+: Dealers at the fair are coy about giving details of works priced upwards of €100,000 but Hamiltons gallery of London are offering several pieces that break the 100K ceiling, including a silkscreen by the Japanese artist Daido Moriyama entitled Tiles (1987) valued at £200,000. Girl Behind Bottle (1949) by Irving Penn also “costs more than $100,000”, says a gallery spokeswoman who adds that “because the Penn is privately consigned, we are not permitted to publish the price”. Howard Greenberg gallery of New York is making waves with its presentation of Bruce Davidson’s 1959 series Brooklyn Gang, depicting rebellious street kids known as the Jokers (71 gelatin silver photographs, edition of three; two editions sold). This series, and László Moholy-Nagy’s Fotogramm (1922), cost “more than $100,000”, says a gallery spokeswoman. Daido Moriyama's Tiles (1987)
Johannes Faber of Vienna, who is unusually candid about prices, is showing three works by Edward Weston, the 20th-century trailblazer now bracketed in the blue-chip range of the photography market. Unique pieces on show include Nude Study IV, Mexico (1925), €260,000, and Nude Study III, Mexico (1925), €230,000. “We had five of these Weston works and have sold two in the past five years to a private US collection and museum in New York,” Faber says. “It is bizarre though; it is easier to sell a Jeff Koons for $10m than sell unique photography masterpieces for more than $100,000.” The highest price at the fair is $1.5m, the tag for Richard Avedon’s Andy Warhol and Members of the Factory, 30 October 1969, available with Gagosian gallery. Edward Weston's Nude Study III (1925)
Photographygallery
Picture this: from €10,000 to €1.3m, what to buy at Paris Photo
Prices for photography tend to be lower than standard art market price ranges but Richard Avedon’s famous Warhol image has a seven-figure price tag
9 November 2018
William Eggleston's Untitled from Dust Bells. Volume II (1970)