“They were collected over a 50-year period by Floyd E. Risvold of Edina, Minnesota who participated in expeditions in the West with the Coast and Geodetic Survey in the 1930′s and ’40′s. His jovial admonition to nearly everyone he met was, ‘Keep your powder dry,’” said Charles Shreve, President of Spink Shreves Galleries of New York and Dallas (www.SpinkShreves.com).
“This collection chronicles the U.S. movement westward to find ‘the Promised Land.’ It’s filled with unique, eyewitness accounts to American history. The pre-sale estimate is $5 million or more.”

Risvold died last June at the age of 97, and his family now is making his vast collection and library available to the public.

The wide array of extraordinary items, most of them one-of-a-kind, include a 12-page letter written by John Adams during The War of 1812, a prospector’s 1849-era hand-drawn map to the California gold regions and an Indian peace treaty directive to the Secretary of State signed in 1864 by President Abraham Lincoln. There are hundreds of other items related to the Pony Express and U.S. postal history, the Alamo, the Civil War, expansion of the railroads and Mormon history including an 1841 letter signed by both Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith, early leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

“Collectors and museums have been waiting for decades for many of these unique historical documents to again become available,” said Shreve.
After displays of the collection in Dallas, San Francisco and London, England earlier this month, it now is on display in New York City in preparation for the three-day public auction to be held online and at the Spink Shreves Galleries, 145 W.57th St., January 27 – 29.

For additional information, contact Spink Shreves Galleries at (212) 262-8400 or visit online at www.SpinkShreves.com.

Jan. 20, 2009

“This interpositive is the closest you will ever get to ‘seeing’ Lincoln

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – A conserved glass-plate image of Abraham Lincoln from 1860 is being presented to the public for the first time – and is not only Lincoln’s personal favorite portrait but it is the closest one will get to “seeing” Lincoln. In honor of the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth, a display titled “Lincoln Portrait: Conservation of a National Treasure” will go on view beginning Feb. 1 at George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film.

The museum is showcasing its two-year conservation treatment of a partially shattered glass-plate interpositive of Lincoln. The image, depicting a “handsome” and beardless Lincoln, was taken when he was beginning his presidential run. It is celebrated as one of the best portraits made of the 16th president, and he was in agreement. “That looks better and expresses me better than any I have ever seen; if it pleases the people I am satisfied,” Lincoln said, in response to the portrait.”

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Yahoo! Music
01/16/2009

“A nude photo of Madonna, taken before erotic songs and risque costumes catapulted her to superstardom, is expected to sell for at least $10,000, Christie’s auction house say.

…The raw, full frontal black-and-white image, taken by Lee Friedlander, appeared in Playboy in 1985 and is to be auctioned Feb. 12.”

The photo, and another taken by Helmut Newton, are from the collection of Leon and Michaela Constantiner. The Newton photograph is expected to go for $10,000 to $15,000. Last month, from the same collection, a series of photographs by Bert Stern of Marilyn Monroe the year she died, sold for $146,500.

Edward Weston’s 1925 “Nude,” holds the the record auction price for a nude photo at $1.6 million paid last year.

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www.pdnonline.com
Jan 4, 2008
Daryl Lang

“Richard Prince reclaimed the record for most expensive photo sold at auction, when a print of his sold at Sotheby’s in New York for $3,401,000.

The price narrowly exceeded the previous record of $3.34 million for an Andreas Gursky diptych sold at Sothey’s in London in February 2007.”

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Dwight Stevens described the October 20 auction as “a man’s sale” because so many of the items in the single-owner collection relate to cars, motorcycles, petroliana, knives and weaponry. The collector, a resident of Canton, Miss., has consigned more than 500 lots. His rifle, shotgun and handgun collection alone would be a show-stopper at most other sales. About 300 guns will be sold.

“About 30 of the firearms are antiques,” Mr. Stevens pointed out, “but most are field-ready, for hunting purposes. All are in immaculate condition, well-oiled and beautifully maintained.” Featured will be examples from world-renowned makers like Winchester, Remington and Colt. There is also a Winchester Model 9432 rifle (ca. 1890), as well as high-powered rifles, small boot guns and derringers.

Over 150 collector knives will be offered, most by major manufacturers and some from collector editions of Southern favorites such as John Deere, John Wayne and Elvis Presley. Military swords will also be sold. And the selection of petroliana advertising signs is breathtaking, with some forgotten names like Delco and Red Crown, as well as some old familiar faces like Shell and Pennzoil.

Previews will be held the day before each sale, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Both sales will be held at Stevens’ showroom, at 609 No. Meridian Street in Aberdeen, Miss.

For more information, visit the Stevens Auction website at www.stevensauction.com.

Picture of Andy Warhol fetches $643,000

www.suntimes.co.za
Thursday October 19, 2006

“NEW YORK – A portrait of Andy Warhol by American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe has been sold for more than 643,000 dollars at an auction, the auction house Christie’s said.”

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pdnonline.com
October 19, 2006
By David Walker

“A London photography dealer paid $609,600 for a rare print of Ansel Adams’ “Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico” at a Sotheby’s auction in New York City on Tuesday. The previous record for a “Moonrise” print, set in 2002, was $136,000, and the previous auction record for any Adams work was $352,000, set earlier this year with a series called “Surf Sequence, San Mateo Coast, California.”

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Telegraph | News |
By Nigel Reynolds, Arts Correspondent
(Filed: 29/03/2006)

“A set of more than 100 photographs that The Daily Telegraph revealed yesterday had fetched 75,000 pounds at a provincial auction after being valued at 80 pounds are almost certainly long-lost Daguerreotypes of Venice taken by the critic, artist and social reformer John Ruskin.

Ian Sumner, who was outbid at the extraordinary sale at Penrith, in the Lake District, said he was “convinced” that the 135 ghostly images were either taken or bought by Ruskin in Venice around 1850 to research his three-volume masterpiece, Stones of Venice.”

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Yahoo! News
By ELIZABETH LeSURE,
Associated Press Writer
Tue Feb 14, 2006

“NEW YORK – A photograph of a pond taken by Edward Steichen sold for more than $2.9 million on Tuesday, easily setting a world record for the highest-priced photograph ever auctioned, Sotheby’s said.

‘The Pond-Moonlight,’ taken on Long Island in 1904, sold for $2,928,000, including the buyer’s premium, Sotheby’s spokesman Matthew Weigman said. It was bought by Peter MacGill, of Pace/MacGill Gallery, on behalf of a private collector.”

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Prince Print Sets Auction Record For Photography

www.pdnonline.com
November 09, 2005
By Daryl Lang

“An untitled cowboy photograph by Richard Prince set a record last night for the most expensive photograph sold at auction, with a price of $1,248,000.”

Comment from Alex Novak, a photo art dealer who edits the E-Photo Newsletter:
“On the subject of Prince’s cowboy photograph, Novak says it’s a shame the work attracted such a high price, given that it is essentially a copy of another photograph.

“I think it’s absolute absurdity for people to pay that kind of money for it,” he says.”

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