Sotheby's scores with Polaroid Collection

22 June 2010 - by ArtfixDaily Staff

A record price of $722,000 for Ansel Adams was reached with "Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park" from the Polaroid Collection at Sotheby's.

The Sotheby's sale of 1,200 photographs from the collection of bankrupt Polaroid Corporation whipped up $12.47 million, well past its $10.7 million high estimate.

Self-portrait photographs by artists were among the works soaring past estimates. Andy Warhol's image of himself with closed eyes took in $254,500 (est. $10–15,000). A 1987 Chuck Close garnered $290,500 from a $70,000 high estimate.

Close was among the artists who said they were told by Polaroid that their donated work would go to a museum. Nine lots were pulled from the sale over concerns about the company's right to sell the works.

The star of the traditional photography section was Ansel Adams' 1938 Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park. The large-format image reached $722,500 against a $500,000 high estimate, marking a record price for Adams.

The previous record for Adams was $609,600 for his "Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico," from 1941, set in 2006.

Read the whole scoop on the sale at artinfo.

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