Unique Gelatin Silver Print Photographs by James Van Der Zee and Peter Beard Come to Sale with Hindman

James Augustus Van Der Zee was a leading American photographer, celebrated for his portraits of the Black middle class. He would often retouch the negatives to enhance the aura of his images. Some of his well-known subjects included Bill “Bojangles” Robinson and Countee Cullen. A set of 18 photographs by Van Der Zee along with three selected studio portraits are a key highlight of the upcoming sale, presented by Hindman. The 18 gelatin silver prints have been printed by Richard Benson, with each consecutively numbered ‘I- XVIII’ and ’13/75′ in pencil on the mount. In the image of a wedding portrait, the photographer adds special effect of a ghostly child, suggesting the couple’s future. This exemplifies the artist’s style of portraying his own perspective in the visual documentation. 

Two other noteworthy works are photographs by Peter Beard from his momentous publication The End of the Game. Titled Tsavo Park and But Past Who Can Recall or Done Undo (Paradise Lost), the unique gelatin silver prints are inscribed in ink on the recto. The photographs document the impact of overpopulation and starvation on animals in Kenya’s Tsavo lowlands and Uganda parklands during the 1960s and 70s. Visit Hindman to view the complete catalog and register to bid in the upcoming Photographs sale.