19th & 20th Century Photographs
Lots: 376
Chiswick Auctions’ 19th and 20th Century Photographs sale offers a diverse selection of prints from across the history of the medium, and features some of the most notable names in 20th century documentary photography. The early part of the sale includes a group of 14 carbon prints from The Society for Photographing Relics of Old London(1867-78). This collection, which includes views of the demolished Oxford Arms, helped shape public opinion on preserving historic buildings and led to the foundation of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings in 1877. The first half of the sale also includes an impressive copy of the Royal Photographic Society's 1931 portfolio, featuring images from the Tyng Collection, including Rudolf Koppitz's Bewegungs Studie.
Additionally, the sale includes photographs from internationally renowned collections, such as Eadweard Muybridge’s Animal Locomotion, formerly owned by Sir Elton John, and over 70 lots from the collection of Robert Kirschenbaum (1936-2023), the head of the Pacific Press Agency, which managed a roster of international photographers in Tokyo for over 50 years. Kirschenbaum developed close friendships with some of the best-known photographic masters of the 20th century, and many of the prints being offered for sale were personal gifts, direct from the photographers themselves. This unique collection includes original works by Ansel Adams, Lee Friedlander, André Kertész, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Bill Brandt, offered to market for the first time.
