Bernd and Hilla Becher photographs lead at Swann Galleries

A series of 12 photographs by Bernd and Hilla Becher were the headline lot at Swann Auction Galleries in New York, selling for $125,000.

Titled Industrial Facades, the works date to 1978 and feature the signatures of the artists on the reverse of each print along with a diagram of the intended layout.

Bechers industrial Swann Galleries
The Bechers proved highly influential on a generation of young German photographers

The Bechers are among the most influential German photographers, renowned for their large format photographs of industrial landscapes displaying architectural and sculptural qualities.

Bernd also taught at the Kunstakademie in Dusseldorf, where he educated a generation of photographers - including Andreas Gursky, whose Rhein II holds the auction record for the world's most valuable photograph at $4.3m.

A selection of 12 first edition artist's books by Edward Ruscha sold as a single lot for $32,500, up 47.7% on an $18,000-22,000 estimate.

The collection comprised a range of books in their original dustjackets and slipcases, including rare titles such as Every Building on the Sunset Strip and Thirty Four Parking Lots.

Ruscha is one of the most significant artists of the pop-art movement, known for his iconic paintings and photographs that capture the forms of modern American life.

Alexander Gardner's Thus It Be Ever with Assassins, an albumen photograph taken by the pioneering photojournalist during the hanging of the Lincoln conspirators in 1865, made $27,500.

We have a range of art and photography memorabilia available to purchase.

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