Colour photography with A Nobel Prize

The Photography Auction at Lempertz offers an outstanding lot in terms of both art and technical history: The self portrait of Dr Richard Neuhaus from 1901 is a colourphotograph using the Lippman process. The rest of the 20th century and contemporary photography is represented in the auction by important contributions from August Sander, Robert Mapplethorpe or Candida Höfer. 

The Lippmann process was a sensation in the history of photography at the turn of the century, which made it possible to take colour photographs based on interference caused by the reflection of light on a layer of mercury. Amidst the fascination with technology at the time, this development was so astonishing that Gabriel Lippmann was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his breakthrough in 1908, the same year as Paul Ehrlich for medicine and Ernest Rutherford for chemistry. One of the pioneers in the application of this new technology was Dr Richard Neuhauss.

A doctor by profession at the Bethanien Hospital in Berlin-Kreuzberg, and others, as well as an anthropologist, Neuhauss made a name for himself alongside and above all in photography. In 1898, he wrote a 70-page treatise with detailed technical instructions for the production of Lippmann photographs, in the foreword to which he wrote: "Among the processes for the production of colour photographs, that of G. Lippmann is the only one to date that rightly deserves the name 'colour photography'." In 1901, he portrayed himself in a red housecoat using this very technique (lot 501, estimate € 6/8000) - a work of museum-level significance and a highlight of the auction.

The transition to classical photography of the first half of the 20th century takes the form of a vintage print of a leaf study: ‘Silphium Laciniatum (Compass Plant)’ by Karl Blossfeldt, in excellent condition (lot 506, € 20/25,000). Alfred Ehrhardt's large-format vintage print ‘Sandformen, Kurische Nehrung’, also in very good condition, is exemplary of his New Objectivity photographs of natural forms and structures in the 1930s (lot 505, € 2500/3000). ‘Mädchen im Kirmeswagen’ by August Sander, here as a print by Gunther Sander, is one of the most sought-after motifs of Sander's opus ‘People of the Twentieth Century’ (lot 503, € 3500/4000). A series of photographs by Albert Renger-Patzsch - above all his famous ‘Bäumchen’ from 1929 as a large-format vintage print (lot 507, € 40/50,000) - show various facets of his New Objectivity landscape photography of the pre-war and immediate post-war years (lots 510-513, from € 2500/3000 to 3500/4000).

Aenne Biermann's youthful portrait of her daughter ‘Helga’, a high-quality vintage print from around 1930 (lot 529, € 8/10,000), is almost iconic for the photography of ‘NeuesSehen’ (New Vision), whilst ‘Self-Portrait with Leica’ by Ilse Bing from 1931 epitomises the image of the modern woman in the Weimar Republic, here in the form of a later print by Abe Frajndlich (lot 528, € 3/4000). Bauhaus Photography forms a special thematic focus of the auction, with works by various photographers from two private collections. Of particular noteare the architectural photographs of Bauhaus buildings by T. Lux Feininger (lots 517/520, € 2000/2500 and 3/4000) and Lucia Moholy (lot 522, € 2500/3000), as well as the latter's subject photographs of Bauhaus designs (lots 521/524, € 1800/2000 and € 4/5000 respectively).

The large-format photograph of an anti-war collage ‘Niemals wieder!’ (Never again!) by John Heartfield in the form of a GDR poster design is an impressive period document from 1959, which emerged from various earlier versions from 1930-32 (lot 548, € 2500/3000). The works of Peter Keetman are representative of the contemporaneous West German post-war photography, with eight works on offer, including a ‘Self-portrait’ and the famous ‘Schallplatte’ as a vintage print (lots 560/561, € 1800/2000 and € 2500/3000 respectively). The non-figurative gelatin silver paintings by Chargesheimer, two of which are in the auction (lots 580/581, € 2500/3000 each), form an artistic counterpoint to Keetman's fotoformphotography.

US American photography of the second half of the 20th century is represented in this catalogue by big names and famous motifs. A piece of scientific photography by BereniceAbbott, for example, is offered in aesthetic perfection: ‘Van De Graaff Generator, Cambridge/MA’ from 1958 as a large-format gelatin silver print (lot 556, € 5/6000). The name JoelMeyerowitz is synonymous with New Colour photography in the USA, represented by a rare vintage contact print of ‘Red Interior, Provincetown’ from 1977 (lot 604, € 3/4000). RobertMapplethorpe portrayed his favourite model ‘Phillip Prioleau’ in 1979 seated on a pedestal in various positions. The gelatin silver print offered here shows the back view of the artist's muse (lot 597, € 8/10,000). For the photograph ‘Schiaparelli Jacket with Tinsel and Glass’ - here as a platinum-palladium print - IrvingPenn created a surrealistic-looking portrait by arranging a figurine and exhibits from an exhibition on haute couture of the 1920s and 1930s at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (lot 606, € 10/15,000). 

In the humorous double portrait ‘Lady Bartender at Home with a Souvenir Dog, New Orleans, LA’ from 1964, DianeArbus shows a bartender in her domestic ambience (lot 596, € 12/15,000). Fashion and glamour photography round off this season's offerings once again. AlbertWatson offers a back nude of ‘Kate Moss, Marrakech’ from 1993 (lot 664, € 4/5000), whilst PeterLindbergh shows a fragile ‘Nadja Auermann’ in the Mojave Desert in California (lot 665, € 12/15,000).

Auction 1247 / 1248 Contemporary Art and Photography

A large-format exterior view of Hamburg's ‘Elbphilharmonie’ by Herzog & de Meuron by CandidaHöfer will be called as part of the Evening Sale following the Photography Auction (lot 47, € 40/50,000).

Further high-priced works by contemporary photographers will be auctioned the following day in the Day Sale on 5th June, including three portraits of famous pop icons by BettinaRheims (lots 418-420, € 10/15,000 each), the replica of a infamous‘Fotoecke/Photobooth’ in a GDR prison by ThomasDemand (lot 406, € 25/30,000) and the large-format lightbox ‘Saturday Night’, in which the Korean photographer KimInSooka ssembled 66 different nocturnal scenarios under a hotel roof using a montage technique (lot 426, € 25/30,000).

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us on 0221/92 57 29-57.

Jan Bykowski
Press and Public Relations
info@lempertz.com