Gold Magazine September - October 2013, Issue 30 | Page 84

investing in photographs

A

FIVE OF THE BEST

spotlight look at key
photographers who,
through the sale of
their works, have
helped to elevate
the artistic medium
of photography and propel it into
prosperous times.

2. ALFRED STIEGLITZ
(1864-1946):

A true pioneer in the field of
photography, Stieglitz was one
of the founding members of
Photo-Secession
in 1902, which
advocated an
emphasis on the
craftsmanship
inherent in photography. Noted
particularly for
Having originally studied
his compositional
painting in Paris, Girault de
choices, his celePrangey quickly developed
brated portraits of fellow artist and
a fascination with the
wife, Georgia O’Keefe, embody
Daguerreotype Process, the
his modernist ideas of fragmented
first practical photographic self, refusing to encapsulate her
process. The resulting
identity within a single image: over
Daguerreotypes from his
three hundred images were taken.
experiments and travels in the
Two belonging to this collection
Middle East are the earliest surviv- came up for auction at Sotheby’s
ing photographs of Greece, Egypt, New York in February 2006. GeorSyria and Turkey. His 113 Athenes, gia O’Keeffe – Nude sold for $1.36
million, whilst Georgia O’Keeffe
Temple de Jupiter from 1842,
- Hands surpassed its contempomeasuring a mere 18.9 x 24cm,
rary, reaping in $1.47 million.
came up for auction at Christie’s
London on May 20th 2003. It sold
for $922,488. Inspired, Christie’s
New York staged an auction
entitled ‘A historic photographic
In an obituary published to mark
grand tour: important daguerreothe passing of Avedon, a promitypes by Joseph Philibert Girault
nent newspaper described his
fashion [