Dorothea Lange: The Family Collection by PHILLIPS

Dorothea Lange: The Family Collection by PHILLIPS

NEW YORK, 17 February 2023

Phillips, a leading worldwide platform for buying and selling 20th and 21st century art and design, just announced the second session of Dorothea Lange: The Family Collection, a collection of over 100 images from her relatives.

Two websites sell the set.

The first of these two online-only sales was held in October 2022, with the second scheduled for 29 March to 5 April 2023.

The two auctions include some of Lange's most iconic photographs from her multi-decade career, as well as numerous new works for collectors. All were in the photographer's collection at her death, passed on to her descendants, and represent her entire career, from her first socially conscious images outside her portrait studio in San Francisco to her work for the Farm Security Administration during the Depression to her post-war documentary projects, many of which she did with her husband and collaborator Paul Taylor.

Over 100 Works from the Personal Collection of the Photographer’s Descendants to be Sold Across Two Online-Only Sales

Next Session to be Open Bidding from 29 March to 5 April

Alongside Public Exhibition at 432 Park Avenue

In October, 2022 Lange's White Angel Breadline, which depicts Depression-era poverty and grit, was featured. Lange's 1955 Public Defender series, which depicted a public defence counsel and his clients, will be sold. This series' biggest auction group.
Her 1950s foreign photography, taken with Paul Taylor in Ireland, Egypt, and Asia, was also sold.

Before moving to California in 1918, Dorothea Lange, born in Hoboken in 1895, studied to photograph. Skilled and ambitious, Lange launched a San Francisco elite portrait business. She photographed labour marches, the newly jobless, and homeless men, women, and children after experiencing the Depression's social turmoil.

She traversed the nation with the Farm Security Agency during the Depression, chronicling American poverty and generating some of the 20th century's most iconic photos. She covered national and international topics with her sharp and compassionate documentary approach during and after World War Two.

Lange photographed a changing world. Her photos indicate that the 20th century was about people—their struggles, successes, and resilience.

About PHILLIPS

Phillips provides experienced assistance on all elements of collecting in 20th-century and contemporary art, design, photographs, editions, watches, and jewellery. Auctions and exhibits are conducted in New York, London, Geneva, and Hong Kong, with regional offices in Europe, the US, and Asia. Phillips provides global online auctions. Phillips arranges private transactions, provides appraisals, valuations, and other financial services, and auctions.