Philips de Pury: Photographs

Philips de Pury insists it is not an auction house but rather an ‘Art company’. In the last ten years it has taken the auction business into new areas, determined on pulling in a new audience with an emphasis on contemporary and ‘wet paint’ art and 20th and 21st century photography and design.

Its London and New York bases are open, contemporary – but definitely welcoming – galleries rather than wood-panelled warrens. No wonder then that we are fans and last year Wallpaper* collaborated with Philips on its Saturday@Philips auction, a low-key, low-pressure introduction to the thrill of auction buying. Image pictured by Florian Maier-Aichen ‘Untitled (Capsized)’ 2002. Courtesy the artist, Blum & Poe, Los Angeles and 303 Gallery, New York.

The partnership encouraged us to make our own play in the art market, making a limited selection of the magazine’s photo archive available to collect. (see Wallpaper* Selects link below).

Philips’ are also expert at packaging and promotion and their catalogues are collectors pieces in themselves. But what caught my eye recently was an invite to Philips’ new auction ‘Photographs’. It featured a photograph by Florian Maier-Aichen, Untitled (Capsized), 2002 (detail), which I loved. It’s quite nice to see some of our contributors included too, Stephen Shore and Dan Holdsworth to name a few, and is testament to Philips’ enthusiastic embrace of contemporary photography. The auction itself is on Saturday the 16th, but viewing has already started, and entry is free. If photography is your thing its worth popping down to see the originals on display, whether you have any spare cash to splash or not!