The Queen of the Leica: Ilse Bing Print Sets Pace for Summer Curated and Groll Estate Auction

Ilse Bing started her photographic journey sometime in 1931 with just a small Leica camera. Bing is also known as Queen of the Leica for being the first professional to wholeheartedly adopt the innovative technology of the 35mm single-lens camera. She wasn’t shy to experiment and be bold while shooting her films. Her inventiveness and originality got her noticed by magazines like Harper’s Bazaar and designers like Elsa Schiaparelli. Bing became an avant-garde photographer of the interwar period and a fashion photographer. A silver gelatin print of Washington Heights covered in snow, signed “Ilse Bing 1948,” is available in the upcoming Summer Curated and Groll Estate Auction from Willow Auction House. 

The sale will also feature a selection of modern, contemporary, and comics art including work by Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, and Roy Lichtenstein. Additional pieces from Banksy, Ai Weiwei, Damien Hirst, Robert Rauschenberg, Max Ernst, Wolf Kahn, Richard Anuszkiewicz, and Marcel Van Eeden will also be available in the auction. Among Art Deco items, a Tiffany harp lamp with a Favrile shade and a Tiffany Studios bronze cobra candlestick are notable. Available firearms include flintlocks, a C. Sharps pepperbox, rifles, a Sharps / RS Lawrence lever action, and a British Muff .50 caliber pistol. Rounding out the auction is a selection of furniture items. Find the listed lots and more on LiveAuctioneers and register to place a bid.