Eugène Atget - A Constant Pursuit: Photographs from the Collection of Ed Cohen & Victoria Shaw New York Thursday, October 4, 2018 | Phillips

A Constant Pursuit: Photographs from the...

New York Auction 4 October 2018

  • Provenance

    Acquired after the artist's death by Berenice Abbott and Julien Levy, 1927
    The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1968
    Acquired from the above, 2002

  • Catalogue Essay

    The fine selection of Eugène Atget photographs in the collection of Ed Cohen and Victoria Shaw all share the same direct provenance. They come from the group of prints acquired just after Atget’s death in 1927 by photographer Berenice Abbott and pioneering gallerist Julien Levy. Abbott had been introduced to Atget by Man Ray, for whom she worked as a darkroom assistant. Abbott befriended Atget, and the portraits she made of him are some of the few images we have of the enigmatic photographer. After Atget’s death, the survival of his life’s work was in serious jeopardy. Abbott and Levy purchased the thousands of photographs and glass negatives left in his apartment, saving the work from likely destruction. In 1968, Abbott and Levy sold their collection to The Museum of Modern Art, New York. In 2002, MoMA began a program of deaccessioning duplicates from this vast collection.

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Eugène Atget

St. Cloud

1926
Matte albumen print.
8 3/4 x 6 7/8 in. (22.2 x 17.5 cm)
Titled, annotated '1241' in pencil, 'Rue Campagne-Première' stamp annotated '17 bis' in pencil, and Museum of Modern Art deaccession notations in unidentified hands in pencil on the verso.

Estimate
$20,000 - 30,000 

Contact Specialist
Caroline Deck
Head of Sale, Senior Specialist

Vanessa Hallett
Worldwide Head of Photographs and Deputy Chairman, Americas

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A Constant Pursuit: Photographs from the Collection of Ed Cohen & Victoria Shaw

New York Auction 4 October 2018