Fine Black & White Photographica_XIII, LiveAuctioneers ~ Wed. December 16, 2020 ~ 8pm EST

Edition XIII of Fine Black and White Photographica is an auction of impressive late 19th/early 20th century portraits rich in value artistically, critically and historically. Dye-based Photolithographs of, and by, a number of vaulted photographers known and unknown highlight a range of works, some not having come to market before. Some of the photographers include Gertrude K?sebier, Edward Sheriff Curtis, Alexander Hesler and Herman Heyn. Rounding out the auction is a choice selection of nudes, erotica & contemporary international landscapes and b&w photolithographs after charcoal drawings.

The most potent portraits represent Native Americana in a manner befitting the dignity and character inherent among these ancient North American cultures. The title portraits above of "Zosh Clishn, Apache, 1906" & "Ben Long Ear,1905"; both by Edward Sheriff Curtis, typify such aura. The beautifully mysterious, solemn Apache woman (with an equally mysterious name), was likely selected by Curtis as a subject for her long exquisite eyelashes. The warrior, almost scorning the setting with steadfast defiance, while uniquely necklaced with hair reflective of Navajo culture was honored by Curtis in sepia tone. Edward Sheriff Curtis (American, 1868-1952) was the pre-eminent ethnographer, photographer and author of 'The North American Indian'. Curtis was born in 1868 near Whitewater, Wisconsin and ended his formal education with the sixth grade. Soon thereafter he built his own camera and taught himself to expose and develop film and to make photographic prints.

By age seventeen, Edward was working as an apprentice photographer in St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1898 a chance event radically altered the direction of Curtis’ life. During an extended season spent photographing on Mount Rainier, Curtis rescued a group of lost mountaineers. The party included several members who were nationally recognized for their work in the areas of conservation, Indian ethnography and publishing, among them, head of forestry, Gifford Pinchot, Chief of the U.S. Biological Survey, C. Hart Merriman, and naturalist, conservationist, and renowned Indian authority George Bird Grinnell. This led to appointments to two important photographic expeditions and in 1900 Grinnell took Curtis to the Sun Dance ceremony of the Blackfeet tribe in Montana and instructed him in the systematic methods required for gathering scientifically valid information..and the rest is history.

1860, "Abraham Lincoln, Profile", By Alexander Hesler, (American, 1823–1895).

In this tumultuous year of the Coronavirus coinciding with the United States presidential election..images of President Abraham Lincoln are a timely reminder of virtues extolled, debated and denied. Hesler's photograph ignites memory and comparisons alike relative to America's past and her future.

Alexander Hesler was active in Illinois in the 1850s and early 1860s. He learned daguerrotype and ambrotype photography, however in company with many of his fellow craftspeople, he trained in glass plate photography in the 1850s and specialized in it thereafter. He operated studios in Galena, Chicago and Springfield, Illinois and took images of people and scenes in the state. Using a portable darkroom, he also produced landscape scenes from nearby states and territories. Hesler's known portraits include photographs of the two chief Illinois political figures of his day, Lincoln and federal senator Stephen A. Douglas.

In the 1860 presidential election, Lincoln's friends took steps to have Hesler's images copied and recirculated, cementing their stature as works of Lincoln image-making. Hesler was an award-winning photographer whose goal was to create photographs of lasting artistic value. He was recognized for the quality of both his portrait work and his outdoor photography. Upon his retirement in 1865, he transferred his Chicago studio and negatives to a fellow photographer, George Bucher Ayres. Several of Hesler's best-known images of Lincoln are platinum prints produced by Ayres from the former's negatives. Hesler's 1860 glass-plate negatives were used after Lincoln's death as bases for further images of the President, including busts by sculptors.

"Alfred Stieglitz" 1902, by Gertrude K?sebier

Gertrude K?sebier,(May 18, 1852 – October 12, 1934), was an American photographer known for her images of motherhood, her portraits of Native Americans, and her promotion of photography as a career for women. She began to attend art school at the age of 37, when most women of her day were settled in their social positions. In 1889, she moved to Brooklyn to attend the newly established Pratt Institute of Art and Design. While there K?sebier learned the theories of Friedrich Fr?bel, a 19th-century scholar whose ideas about learning, play, and education led to the development of the first kindergarten. His concepts about the importance of motherhood in child development impacted her..thus leading many of her later photographs to emphasize the bond between mother and child. She was also influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement.

"Baker St. & Gauguin", (London Tube), 35mm. ? 2010, Eurocontempo Publishing

The Baker Street station began in 1863 as one of the original stations of the "First underground railway in the world", the Metropolitan Railway of London. The underground station is flooded with natural light by a row of cleverly designed light wells that focus non-direct light onto the platform. The shifting of the sun produces distinct lighting situations according to the time of day. In addition-Baker Street, as some may discern, was also the location of the residence of the infamous British detective Sherlock Holmes.

Apart from it's unique history and architectural rarity, this photograph captures an equally unique and alluring image of a reclining nude woman in a poster for London's Tate Museum exhibition of works by the French artist Paul Gauguin. And that nude woman was, in fact, Gauguin's 13 year old Polynesian wife. Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) was an important figure in the Symbolist movement as a painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist, and writer. He was especially known for his paintings of female subjects in French Polynesia, and is regarded as paving the way to Primitivism and the return to the pastoral.

"Semi-nude Woman Reading In Negligee". 1900, by Fitz Guerin

Fitz W. Guerin, (March 17, 1846 – July 11, 1903) was born in NY, NY and was a recipient of the Medal of Honor in the American Civil War. On returning to civilian life, he became a successful society photographer in St. Louis, Missouri. He also entered into a partnership in establishing 'Remington, Guerin, and Mills Gallery' in Ottumwa, Iowa. He was eventually bought out and returned to St. Louis where he worked for several other established photographers. In 1876 he returned to set up shop on his own whereupon he won an award at the 1878 Paris World's Fair and became an overnight success. He established a reputation, received international recognition for his portraits, and was several times president of the National Photographic Society. He opened other galleries in the city, owning a total of six over his 27-year career.

"White Roof Tops", (Photolithograph after Watercolor). 2019, Donna Friedson

Donna Lynn Friedson, (American, b. 1950), was born in Brooklyn, New York and grew up in Long Island. Her most profound influence was her father, a self-taught painter and woodcarver, as well as an avid art collector. He encouraged her from an early age to develop her innate talent. For 7 years she worked as a Museum Educator, Program Director and Curator of the African Art Collection at the Museum of Archeology in Staten Island, and was a freelance Educator at the Queens Museum and Snug Harbor Cultural Center.

Fine Black & White Photographica_Edition XIII

Wed. December 16, 2020 ~ 8pm EST is presented by Jasper52 on LiveAuctioneers, a legitimate, trustworthy platform with an international audience of millions bidding in Art, Antiques, Jewelry and Collectibles across the globe. This event is an 'affordable art auction' featuring dye-based, sheet-fed, photolithographs. Absentee bids are currently being accepted prior to the Live conclusion 12/16/2020 @8pm EST. Preview and Register now to participate.