NEW YORK, NY.- Christie’s presents Photographs, featuring Depth of Field: The Alan and Dorothy Press Collection. The sale opened online for bids on 19 September through 4 October.

The Alan and Dorothy Press Collection, which kicks off the auction, includes a carefully curated assemblage gathered over the course of 30 years. The collection includes a select group of avant-garde photographs from the 1920s and ’30s that exemplify some of the most important innovations in the medium and, more broadly, of 20th century art.

Highlights include an early unique photogram by Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, as well as a unique Rayograph from 1923 by Man Ray. Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and Man Ray each brilliantly explored photographic innovations including, notably, camera-less images. The excitement of experimentation that’s palpable in photographic works by Man Ray, Andre Kertesz and Lazlo Moholy-Nagy in the Press Collection is matched in dynamism by the later, iconoclastic Post-War scenes of America including an early print of Robert Frank’s iconic work, Trolley- New Orleans.

A standout highlight of the auction includes a rare exhibition print of Stieglitz’s seminal 1894 work, A Venetian Courtyard, in platinum, which was exhibited at the famous 1899 Philadelphia Salon. Previously understood to be lost, this magnificent print—in the original frame, backing and exhibition label and filled out in the hand of Stieglitz—is a historical gem. An additional outstanding piece is the largest known lifetime print of an image by the mysterious artist E.J. Bellocq.