NEW YORK - A primitive image believed to have been made decades before the dawn of photography has been pulled from an upcoming auction to allow further research into its origins, Sotheby's auction house said Wednesday.The image of a leaf was scheduled to be sold next Monday and was listed in the auction catalogue as "Photographer Unknown."But Sotheby's said research by a leading photo expert suggested that several early photo experimenters could have made the image, including Thomas Wedgwood, James Watt and Humphry Davy, who worked in the medium decades before what is believed to be the birth of photography in 1839.Sotheby's said it decided to pull the lot because the upcoming auction had generated "a spirited and lively dialogue" among photo scholars "about the possible origins for the 'Leaf."'"This conversation has revealed new areas of research, which will be explored in the coming months," the auctioneer said."Leaf" is a photogenic drawing - a cameraless process in which an object is placed on silver nitrate-coated paper or leather to form a negative image.It had previously been attributed to William Henry Fox Talbot, considered the father of photography along with Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre."Leaf" was among six similar anonymous works that were sold individually at Sotheby's London in 1984.
Read More
No comments:
Post a Comment