Richard Avedon’s Signed Prints and Dorothea Lange’s Mended Stockings Highlight Sotheby’s Upcoming Sale

Richard Avedon was an American photographer famous for his fashion and portrait images. His works often captured large-format portraits, black-and-white images of leading personalities, and unknowns. A 1985 signed print by Richard Avedon is a key highlight of the upcoming sale at Sotheby’s. It comprises two black-and-white images of Clarence Lippard, a Nevada Drifter, in different poses. The reverse has an inscription ‘For Shelley’ along with the photographer’s In the American West stamp. The available lot comes from the collection of Shelley Dowell, studio manager and assistant on In the American West. 

Another notable lot is American documentary photographer Dorothea Lange’s Mended Stockings. Framed in 1936 and possibly printed in the 1940s, the work reflects the Social Realist style. The intimate photograph depicts a woman’s legs and feet. This simple composition highlights the mended runs in the stockings and showcases the struggles of women. Lange (1895 – 1965) is noted for her Depression-era pictures and portraits of migrant workers in the 1930s. The catalog also offers works by Harry Callahan, Katy Grannan, Stephen Shore, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Robert Adams, and Lisette Model among others. Interested collectors can explore the complete auction catalog on Sotheby’s website and register to bid in the upcoming Pier 24 Photography from the Pilara Family Foundation Sold to Benefit Charitable Organizations Day Sale.