The remarkable group of photographs comprising Lots 161 through 200 in this auction come from the collection of Fred and Laura Bidwell, collectors, philanthropists, and founders of the Transformer Station, the renowned exhibition space for contemporary photography and art in the Hingetown neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. The Bidwells’ collection presents a truly enlightened selection of work, ranging from classic practitioners such as Lee Friedlander and Stephen Shore to photographers working at the very cutting edge of today’s artistic practice, such as Kehinde Wiley, Zanele Muholi, and Hank Willis Thomas, among many others. Themes of identity and self-representation course through these works. An inquiry into the intrinsic nature of photography is another through-line, with artists as conceptually diverse as Alison Rossiter, Matthew Brandt, and Christopher Williams pushing the boundaries of the medium to deepen our understanding of it. Central to the collection is Hiroshi Sugimoto’s masterful Lightning Fields 128 (lot 169), which is emblematic of the creative spark underlying Bidwells’ progressive conception of photography.
Driven by a passion for photography and a desire to make their collection accessible to the public, the Bidwells renovated a former Cleveland Railway Company transformer substation into a state-of-the-art exhibition venue. Boasting 3,500 square feet of exhibition space, the Transformer Station became a vital part of the city’s artistic community, hosting exhibitions drawn from the Bidwells’ collection, exhibitions curated by the Cleveland Museum of Art, as well as performances and talks. Earlier this year, the Bidwells gifted Transformer Station to the Cleveland Museum of Art which will continue to use this unique space.
Proceeds from the sale of these works will support the Bidwells’ active philanthropic endeavors.
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Provenance
Private Collection
Exhibited
A Shared Vision: The Fred and Laura Ruth Bidwell Photography Collection, Akron Art Museum, Akron, 23 February - 25 May 2008
I Sing the Body, Transformer Station, Cleveland, 5 July - 6 October 2019
High Voltage: Contemporary Photographs from the Collection of Fred and Laura Bidwell
176
Guest (Nicky May) 25,000 Solar Images, 12.33pm, 19th February
1995
Unique dye destruction print, flush-mounted.
38 5/8 x 29 1/8 in. (98.1 x 74 cm)
Overall 40 x 30 1/2 in. (101.6 x 77.5 cm)
Signed, titled and dated in pencil on the verso. One of ten unique prints.
Estimate
$4,000 - 6,000
Sold for $10,795
Sarah Krueger
Head of Department, Photographs
skrueger@phillips.com
Vanessa Hallett
Worldwide Head of Photographs and Chairwoman, Americas
vhallett@phillips.com
Photographs
New York Auction 11 October 2023
237
This lot is no longer available.
246
This lot is no longer available.
