Christie’s have been entrusted with the sale of Photographs by Sally Mann from a Private Collection, Washington, D.C. on October 7, 2009. One of four exceptional Photographs sales to be offered this fall season at Christie’s,
Photographs by Sally Mann marks the first time such a comprehensive body of work by the prominent American artist comes to the auction market.
Sally Mann, Candy Cigarette, 1989. Estimate: $30,000-50,000. © Sally Mann. Photo: Christie’s Images Ltd 2009
The majority of the works are from editions that have been sold out for many years. The sale is comprised of 59 photographs featuring many images from one of Mann’s best known bodies of work, Immediate Family, depicting her children when they were young, in addition to landscapes of her native South from the series Deep South.
Considered “one of the great photographers of our time,” (New Republic) Sally Mann rose to prominence for her intimate and captivating photographs of family life, after the publication of her third collection, Immediate Family. These extraordinary photographs, which primarily document her children’s time spent in their family’s remote summer cabin brought Mann much international acclaim.
The photographs ensnare the viewer, immediately drawing them into a world an uncanny sense of loneliness and alienation that permeates much of the work is juxtaposed by the joyous and nostalgic lull of summertime. Auction highlights include iconic images such as Candy Cigarette, 1989, (estimate: $30,000-50,000), pictured above, Night Blooming Cereus, 1988 (estimate: $20,000-30,000), and Virginia at 6, 1991, (estimate: $20,000-30,000), among others.