The fall photography auctions in New York roll on this week, and the results from Christie's were strong. The highlight came on Wednesday during the sale of "Important Photographs from a Private American Collection." Lot number 16, a signed and dated print of Robert Frank's "Trolly--New Orleans, 1955" (above), sold for $623,400,a new auction record for the artist. All together the auction from in $2,061,150. Another auction, of images from the collection of Rex, Inc., brought in $1,184,025. The general photography auction brought in $6,532,825, for an overall total of $9.78 million. Other standouts in the sale included Diane Arbus's "A Jewish Giant at Home with his Family, 1967," which went for $421,000, and Robert Mapplethorpe's "Calla Lily, 1998," which had a high estimate of $120,000 but sold for $217,000. The Mapplethorpe market has been stalled in recent years, and this price may reflect new interest in the artist.
--David Schonauer
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