NEW YORK, NY.- Christie's will offer The Vicente Wolf Photography Collection—the personal collection of renowned interior designer Vicente Wolf this October in New York in a two-part single-owner sale—one live and one online. The offerings include nearly 200 exceptional photographs, lovingly assembled by the famed designer over the course of nearly half a century. Vicente Wolf, internationally celebrated figure in the world of interior design, is best known for his impressive eye and range as a creative visionary across residential, hospitality and commercial spaces. While building a successful business and name for himself in the design world, he simultaneously refined his eye as a prolific and passionate collector of photography, originating with advice given to him by Richard Avedon. The collection holdings represent a vast range of subject matters and genres, with works by among the most esteemed names in 20th century European and American photography—including Alexander Rodchenko, Constantin Brâncusi, Man Ray, Lee Miller, Diane Arbus, André Kertész, Edward Weston, Francesca Woodman and Richard Avedon. A number of canonical images from American Modernist photographs from same era, dating to the 1920s-30s, highlight the collection, including Wind Fire, a superb print of Thérèse Duncan by Edward Steichen and an early print of Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange—arguably the most famous American photograph from the twentieth century.
Vicente Wolf remarks, “I hunted for a long time for the right Dorothea Lange photograph and when I saw Migrant Mother come up in an auction catalogue, I had to see it. I was really surprised knowing the image pretty well, that I had never seen mother's thumb in the photograph and in going through and doing some research, I found out that Lange had edited out the thumb after the first few images were printed. I thought this was the perfect image to own of Dorothea Lange because A, of its uniqueness and B, because it made it just a little different than every other image that you see of Migrant Mother. I think details like that bring an image back to the days when the original photograph was taken. There's a relevance to the time and not just something that has traveled far away from when it originated.”
Rebecca Jones, Head of Photographs Department, Christie's, remarks, “Vicente Wolf's collection is a unique labor of love, thoughtfully assembled over the course of decades. His brilliance and passion shine through in this best-in-class selection of photographs that span geographies, movements, and eras. This sale will reflect Mr. Wolf's incredible taste and his unmatched eye for greatness—with offerings that represent American Modernism at its finest and iconic examples from Europe's fertile interwar period. We look forward to seeing how the market responds to this truly one-of-its-kind collection.”
The jewels of the collection are fresh-to-market works hailing from avant-garde movements across Europe in the early 1900s, notably Italian Futurism, Surrealism, and Constructivism. This grouping includes rare works by Rodchenko, including a unique and iconic photomontage, collaboratively created by the artist and Varvara Stepanova as well as portraits by Man Ray and Lee Miller; and rare works by Tato, Umbo, Raoul Ubac and more. The European modernist photographs range in estimate from $1,000 to over $200,000.
The auction is rounded out by important artists whose contributions to photography are monumental yet are exceedingly rare to see at auction. Counted among this group is work by Bauhaus trained Japanese photographer and architect Iwao Yamawaki and a stunning portrait by German photographer Else Neulander. Even more personality, texture and dimension comes through in the anonymous press print featuring Marilyn Monroe which was hand-masked as a mock-up for the very first cover of Playboy in 1953.
