Thursday 24 June 2010

A collection shattered.

Over the past few days probably the finest collection of photos ever assembled has been cruelly dismantled for a mere $12.5 m.

Sotheby's, New York, was the venue for the sale of over 1,000 items from the Polaroid Collection and marks the last rites of the now failed and dismally unrecognisable company.

These works were gifts to the company by artists such as Warhol, Hockney, Mapplethorpe, Wegman, Close, and most famously, Ansel Adams. It's still being debated whether the Polaroid corporate shell even has the rights to sell them. Certainly John Reuters doesn't think so... But snaking legality aside, this is outright crime against art.

There were too many bits of genius in there to choose a favourite, but I do wonder where I would have put my few bucks given a chance, or indeed an inclination, to take part in the butchery. I think in the end I would have gone for Aspens by Adams. The price $494,500. What would you have chosen?

2 comments:

  1. it makes me sick. and pissed off.

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  2. this Adams piece is certainly one of the most intriguing.

    but what a shame. what a crime.

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