Sotheby’s is auctioning the collection of fine art dealer Eric Franck on May 19 in New Bond Street. Through Franck’s personal connections with photographers (his sister Martine married the pioneer street photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson), he has amassed an enviable collection.
More than £1m worth of his collection has already been donated to the Tate, more than doubling the institution’s holdings of photography.
The first tranche comprises 119 lots, ranging from wellknown Magnum photographers such as Cartier-Bresson, to lesser-known artists like Heinz Hajek-Halke and Pentti Sammallahti.
Among the works on offer is Barcelona (1939), a 10 x 15in (25 x 39cm) silver print taken during the Spanish Civil War by Hungarian war photographer Robert Capa. Estimated at £3000-5000, it depicts a woman and dog running through a square during the bombing of the city by Franco’s forces.
At Dreweatts & Bloomsbury on May 18, more than 175 lots of photographs and photobooks, guided at £100 up to £5000, are going under the hammer in its new London base in Pall Mall.
Highlights include over 50 hand-coloured albumen prints of Japan from the 1860s-’90s by a range of photographers, including Felice Beato (1832-1909). Beato was renowned for his views and panoramas of the architecture and landscapes of east Asia.
