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Lot 2001: KARL STRUSS Pattern of Airplanes

Est: $1,000 USD - $1,500 USDPassed
Andrew Smith Gallery Photography Auctions, LLCTucson, AZ, USFebruary 06, 2021

Item Overview

Description

KARL STRUSS, Pattern of Airplanes, artist's stamp verso, c. 1940s, 5.7x9" gelatin silver print, printed c. 1940s. Stamped in black ink on print verso: Karl Struss / Artist Photographer / Hollywood, California.

An identical print of this sold for $2000 at Swann Gallery in 2020.

Struss won the first Academy Award awarded for Cinematography in 1929 after 10 years in the film business and here we see a cinematic view of airplanes and unseen drama.

Karl Fischer Struss was born on November 30, 1886, in New York and made his first photographs at about age ten. He took extension classes at Teachers College of Columbia University with Clarence H. White and in 1910 twelve of his prints were included in the International Exhibition of Pictorial Photography, held at the Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo. Though this exhibition signaled the effective end of Stieglitz's Photo-Secession, Struss "joined" the group two years later and saw eight of his images appear as photogravures in the April 1912 issue of Camera Work.

Struss soon became closely associated with Clarence H. White and Edward R. Dickson and supported their efforts to continue the tradition of pictorial photography. In 1913, he contributed an article on multiple-gum printing to Dickson’s short-lived but noteworthy periodical Platinum Print. The next year he was listed as an associate of the magazine, and a few of his photographs were subsequently reproduced on its cover and in its pages. In 1912, the year he finished studying with White, he himself taught a summer class on photography at Teachers College. Four years later, he joined White and a handful of others to found the Pictorial Photographers of America.

During this time, Struss made his living as a professional photographer. In 1914, he took over White's former studio space, where he made portrait, advertising, and commercial photographs for three years. He offered his Struss Pictorial Lens for sale, after manufacturing it privately for a while. During his military service, from 1917 to 1919, Struss experimented with infrared photography.

After World War I, Struss headed directly to Hollywood, determined to get into the motion-picture industry. He was initially hired by Cecil B. DeMille to make still shots and soon found himself working behind a film camera on the set. His long career as a cinematographer began when he signed a two-year contract with DeMille. In 1924-25, he was one of the cameramen for Ben-Hur, and a few years later he and Charles Rosher shared the first-ever Academy Award for cinematography for their camera work on Sunrise, directed by F. W. Murnau.

Struss resumed salon exhibiting in 1921, associating with the second generation of pictorialists in California. He joined the Camera Pictorialists of Los Angeles and presented a solo show of his work at San Francisco's California Camera Club in 1929. His pictures also were seen at photographic salons across the United States. During the 1950s and 1960s, Struss did cinematography for television programs and commercials. At the same time, he made color slides, which he submitted to exhibitions. In 1970, Struss retired, and on December 15, 1981, he died in Los Angeles.

Christian A. Peterson Pictorial Photography at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (Christian A. Peterson: Privately printed, 2012).

This biography is courtesy and copyright of Christian Peterson and is included here with permission. christianapeterson.com

CREDIT:

Artist or Maker

Condition Report

Excellent. Minor wear.

Notes

$60 shipping

Payment & Shipping

Payment

Accepted forms of payment: American Express, MasterCard, Personal Check, Visa, Wire Transfer

Shipping

In House Shipping/Insurance: The Gallery has in house shipping available. Flat rate shipping including transit insurance charges are listed on each Lot for FedEx Ground shipping in the lower 48 States of USA. Shipping costs to Alaska, Hawaii and foreign countries will be quoted individually. Buyers are responsible for all taxes, customs fees and VAT that may apply to their purchase and shipment. Please provide a correct street address, email address and telephone number for our shipper in order to expedite the receipt of your purchase. All items are tracked and require a signature on delivery. Items not removed or shipped from our warehouse after 30 days will be subject to a storage charge. Shipment generally occurs within ten business days after payment has been received.


Pickup at the Gallery is available by appointment beginning February 10, 2021. Buyers may make their own arrangements for shipping with pick-up at the Gallery by their designated shipping agent.

Auction Details

Terms

Live bidding may start higher or lower

Buyer's Premium

$1 - 100,000:27.0%
$100,001 - 1,000,000:20.0%
$1,000,001+:18.0%

Bidding Increments

From:To:Increment:
$0$199$20
$200$499$50
$500$999$100
$1,000$4,999$250
$5,000$9,999$500
$10,000$19,999$1,000
$20,000$49,999$2,500
$50,000$99,999$5,000
$100,000$249,999$10,000
$250,000$499,999$10,000
$500,000+$25,000

Terms & Conditions of Sale Feb 6, 2021

Andrew Smith Gallery Photography Auctions LLC. is pleased to present an auction of EXPLORATION, ARTISTIC, DOCUMENTARY AND HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHY from the TERRESTRIAL to the CELESTIAL.

Andrew Smith Gallery Photography Auctions, LLC. (Hereinafter also Gallery or Auctioneer) Terms and Conditions for this auction are listed below for the Sale of EXPLORATION, ARTISTIC, DOCUMENTARY AND HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHY from the TERRESTRIAL to the CELESTIAL to take place on Invaluable platform Saturday FEBRUARY 6, 2021 9:00am California Time.

1. Bidders Bound by These Terms and Conditions of Sale set forth here are the complete and only terms and conditions on which all property is offered for sale. By registering and/or bidding on Invaluable or by written absentee or telephone bid, or by any other means, the buyer agrees to be bound by these Conditions of Sale.

2. Sole Remedy for buyer in event of a dispute or any other issue. The buyer's sole remedy under these Terms and Conditions of Sale shall be the rescission of the sale and refund of the original purchase price paid for the item, less shipping and handling, and this remedy shall be exclusive and in lieu of any other remedy which might otherwise be available to the buyer as a matter of law.

3. Right to Withdraw Lots, Errors and Omissions. Gallery reserves the right to withdraw any property at any time before the auction and shall have no liability whatsoever for such withdrawal. Offerings in this catalog are subject to errors or omissions in descriptions.

4. Hammer Price or Sale Price. The Hammer Price or Sale Price is the price at which a lot is sold or hammered down by the Auctioneer. On the fall of the auctioneer's hammer, title to the offered lot or article will pass to the highest acknowledged bidder, who thereupon immediately assumes full risk and responsibility and will within 72 hours pay the full Purchase Price. Any items unpaid after 30 days are no longer for sale7

5. Purchase Price. The purchase price paid by the winning bidder is the aggregate of (a) the hammer price or sale price, (b) a Buyers Premium of 27% (twenty-seven percent) of the first $100,000.00 of the Hammer prices of each lot and a Buyers Premium of 20% (twenty Percent) of any amount of the Hammer price between $100,000 and $1,000,000.00 and 18% (eighteen percent) of any amount above this last amount plus any applicable, shipping, insurance, handling and processing and Tax.

Arizona State Tax in the amount of 8.77% will be charged on all sales to buyers who are 1) Not Exempt by virtue of being a reseller and Gallery has a Certificate of Resale on file by the time payment is made; 2) Not Exempt by virtue of being a non-profit or government entity and Gallery has a Certificate of Exemption on file by the time payment is received; 3) Live in one of 5 states that does not charge State Tax, those states being New Hampshire, Oregon, Montana, Alaska or Delaware or 4) Who are buying from outside of the USA.

6. F.O. B. Arizona is an Origin Based State. All purchases are F.O.B. Tucson, Arizona.

7. Disputes Between Bidders Bids Delayed/Not Received. If any dispute arises between two or more bidders, the Auctioneer may decide the sale or may immediately put the lot up for sale again, and resell to the highest bidder. The decision of the Auctioneer shall be final and absolute. The Auctioneer reserves the right to reject any and all bids. Live Auctioneers bids are executed with and against outside competing telephone and absentee bids. In the case of ties, the auctioneer has sole and final discretion to determine the successful bidder. In the event of any dispute between bidders or in the event the auctioneer doubts the validity of any bid, the auctioneer shall have sole and final discretion either to determine the successful bidder or to re-offer and resell the article in dispute. If any dispute arises after the sale, our sales records shall be conclusive in every respect. It has been our brief experience on Invaluable that we did not receive bids on 2 of 54 lots (3.7%) sold on Invaluable within 35 seconds after the bidder had submitted bid, so if the bidding is critical please submit your highest bids via absentee bidding with Invaluable or the Gallery.

8. Withdraw Lots. Gallery reserves the absolute right (a) to withdraw any property at any time before its actual final sale, including during the bidding, and (b) to refuse any bid from any bidder. The Auctioneer is the sole judge as to the amount to be advanced by each succeeding bid.

9. All Lots Sold "AS IS". Neither the Gallery nor Auctioneer nor Consignor make any express or implied warranties or representations with respect to the property or correctness of the advertisement, catalog, Lot descriptions and any other medium used to announce this auction or any other description of the physical condition, attribution, provenance, genuineness, description, condition of the property, estimate of value, quality, importance, size or authenticity of the property offered and described either online or via telephone, text, email or any other communication.

10. Condition: A condition report may be obtained by viewing the online catalog, or you may contact the Gallery. Not withstanding any condition reports or catalog descriptions provided, all lots are offered and sold AS IS In most cases, we describe the quality of the impression of the print. We have never seen perfect prints as they can have wipe marks and abrasions made by the photographer etc. Our Rankings relate to both 1) tone and richness of the print and 2) physical condition. These subjective criteria are then combined for the final subjective ranking designation based on the many thousands of prints Andrew Smith has seen. Handling marks are dents in the print from being handled by the photographer or others. They can be small moon-shaped-crescents to splits in the emulsion. As our condition grades go down from Excellent to Fair the handling marks noted in those descriptions go from minor visual impairments with no damage to emulsion to major visual impairments with damaged emulsion.

Excellent: Tones Richness is 9-10 on a scale of 10. The print may include minor wear, light abrasions and other flaws generally visible only in raking light and not impacting the visual enjoyment of the print. Mounts and margins can have other problems and the print can still be excellent. Normal wear is expected on all older prints, on the emulsion and to edges or corners of mounts/prints.

Very Good: Tones Richness is 7- 8 on a scale of 10 with minor to mild wear. Mild wear indicates there may be some visual impact, small abrasion, scuffs, spots bent corner that can be matted out, stain or handling mark. It has very little negative impact on the visual enjoyment of the print.

Good: Tones Richness is 5-6 on a scale of 10. Yellowing, Shifting color tones, fading, or perhaps a very rich print with more severe wear - noticeable abrasions, stains, scuffs or handling marks as well as deterioration of the historic original mounts.

Fair: Condition issues or fading are noticeable might have physical conditions such as moderate abrasions, scuffs, staining, small emulsion loss, handling dents etc. that affect the print.

11. Estimates: Low Estimate is the lowest price at which multiple buyers would expect to find a shopping bargain. High Estimate is what a dealer might pay for the print when buying for resale.

12. No Reserve Auction: There is no reserve above the starting price.

13. Bidding Increments:
$20 increments up to $200
$50 increments to $500
$100 increments to $1,000
$250 increments to $5,000
$500 increments to $10,000
$1,000 increments to $20,000
$2,500 increments to $50,000
$5,000 increments to $100,000
$10,000 increments to $250,000
$25,000 increments to $500,000

14. Copyright: Neither the Gallery nor Auctioneer nor Consignor make any representations whatsoever that the Purchaser of a work of art will acquire any reproduction rights thereto and copyright to work. Purchaser's ownership of the work shall remain subject to the copyrights of the artist.

15. Amending Catalog, Entire Agreement: This on-line catalog may be amended 2 hours before posting time and represents Andrew Smith Gallery Photography Auctions LLC (Gallery) entire agreement with any and all Purchasers of the property listed herein.

16. Absentee Bids: Absentee bids for Auction Lots will be executed by the Gallery on behalf of the Client during the auction. The Gallery shall not be responsible for any errors or omissions or failure to execute such absentee bids. To reduce the chance of error, the Gallery requests the Client make absentee bidding arrangements as soon as possible. Every effort will be made to carry out the bidder's instructions, but Gallery shall in no event be responsible for failing correctly to carry out instructions, and Gallery reserves the right to decline to undertake such bids. Bids by mail should be made in U.S. or the Bid Sheet available directly from the Andrew Smith Gallery website. The gallery recommends all bidding be done on the Invaluable platform directly.

17. Credit Card for Absentee Bids; A valid major credit card number will be required in order to execute absentee bids with authorization to charge 30% of the high bid amount to a valid credit card upon submitting the bid forms; if unsuccessful, the deposit will be returned; if successful the deposit will be applied to the purchase price.

18. Institutional Buyers may make separate payment arrangements to coincide with their fiscal year planning. These arrangements must be discussed and approved prior to the auction.

19. Terms for Payments on all Purchases: All payments on lots that are taxed must be made to the Invaluable payments system. If you are exempt from taxes payment may be made directly to Andrew Smith Gallery Photography Auctions LLC.
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Accepted by the Gallery are cash, wire transfe, personal check, Visa, MasterCard, American Express. Arizona State Tax in the amount of 8.77% will be charged on all sales to buyers who are 1) Not Exempt by virtue of being a reseller and Gallery has a Certificate of Resale on file by the time payment is made; 2) Not Exempt by virtue of being a non-profit or government entity and Gallery has a Certificate of Exemption on file by the time payment is received; 3) Live in one of 5 states that does not charge State Tax, those states being New Hampshire, Oregon, Montana, Alaska or Delaware; or 4) Who are buying from outside of the USA.

All monies shall be made payable to Andrew Smith Gallery Photography Auctions, LLC. At the Gallery's discretion, payment will not be deemed to be complete until funds represented by checks or credit cards have been processed by Gallery's bank, usually within 1-3 days.

20. In House Shipping/Insurance: The Gallery has in house shipping available. Flat rate shipping including transit insurance charges are listed on each Lot for FedEx Ground shipping in the lower 48 States of USA. Shipping costs to Alaska, Hawaii and foreign countries will be quoted individually. Buyers are responsible for all taxes, customs fees and VAT that may apply to their purchase and shipment. Please provide a correct street address, email address and telephone number for our shipper in order to expedite the receipt of your purchase. All items are tracked and require a signature on delivery. Items not removed or shipped from our warehouse after 30 days will be subject to a storage charge. Shipment generally occurs within ten business days after payment has been received.


21. Pickup at the Gallery is available by appointment beginning February 10, 2021. Buyers may make their own arrangements for shipping with pick-up at the Gallery by their designated shipping agent.

22. Authenticity of Work Return: A condition report may be obtained by viewing the online catalog or by contacting the Gallery. Not withstanding any condition reports or catalog descriptions provided, all lots are offered and sold AS IS in accordance with paragraph 9 of the Procedures, Terms and Conditions of Auction. However, if within 21 calendar days after the receipt of the purchase of any lot, as long as the art was received within 30 calendar days of the Auction date, the purchaser provides two opinions by recognized authorities on the artist, and gives notice in writing to the Gallery that the lot is not authentic, and within 7 calendar days of such notice the purchaser returns the lot to the Gallery in the same condition as when sold, the Gallery will refund the full purchase price. 24. Limitation of Rights. Any right of the purchaser under this agreement or under the law shall not be assignable and shall be enforceable only by the original purchaser and not by any subsequent owner or any person who shall subsequently acquire any interest. No purchaser shall be entitled to any remedy, relief or damages beyond return of the property, rescission of the sale and refund of the purchase price; and without limitation, no purchaser shall be entitled to damages of any kind.

23. Remedies: These Procedures, Terms and Conditions of Auction and any other applicable conditions, as well as the Purchasers and Gallery's rights and obligations herein shall be governed by, construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of Arizona. Purchases that have gone unpaid thirty days (30 calendar days after the sale are past due and subject to any or all of the following including without limitation the right a) Upon purchase, property is held for sale and payment for 30 days. If unpaid after 30 days the property is no longer for sale; (b) Dispute the purchase on the Auction Platform; (c) hold the Purchaser liable for the purchase price stated on the invoice; (d) cancel the sale and retain as liquidated damages any and all payments made by the Purchaser; (e) resell the property privately or at public auction on three days notice to the Purchaser for the payment of any deficiency in the purchase price and all costs including handling charges, warehousing, the commissions, attorney's fees, any and all other auction-related charges due and incidental damages. In the event of a default, the Gallery reserves the right to charge the Purchaser's credit card on file in the full amount owed as stated on the invoice. .

24. Full Payment Non Transferable: In order to prevent inaccuracy in delivery or inconvenience in the settlement of a purchase, no lot can be transferred. Each buyer must pay for the whole of his purchases before any lot can be removed.

25. Not Assignable: The benefits of these warranties are not assignable and are applicable only to the original buyer of the lot, and are conditioned on the buyer returning the work in the same condition as at time of sale and in the time period specified.

26. Misc: Dimensions are given in inches, with height preceding width in all cases. For prints, if the margins are known or believed to be full this is stated. Illustrations in the catalogue are for identification only and should not be used as a basis for determining the condition of the lot. First Date used in the lot description entries refers to the creation of the negative or original electronic capture; a second date, which often follows the medium or size, indicates the approximate print date. The term "signed" means that, in our opinion, the signature is by the artist.

Shipping Terms

In House Shipping/Insurance: The Gallery has in house shipping available. Flat rate shipping including transit insurance charges are listed on each Lot for FedEx Ground shipping in the lower 48 States of USA. Shipping costs to Alaska, Hawaii and foreign countries will be quoted individually. Buyers are responsible for all taxes, customs fees and VAT that may apply to their purchase and shipment. Please provide a correct street address, email address and telephone number for our shipper in order to expedite the receipt of your purchase. All items are tracked and require a signature on delivery. Items not removed or shipped from our warehouse after 30 days will be subject to a storage charge. Shipment generally occurs within ten business days after payment has been received.


Pickup at the Gallery is available by appointment beginning February 10, 2021. Buyers may make their own arrangements for shipping with pick-up at the Gallery by their designated shipping agent.

Buyers Premium

On all Purchases a Buyers Premium will be applied in the amount of 27% (twenty-seven percent) of the first $100,000.00 of the Hammer prices of each lot and a Buyers Premium of 20% (twenty Percent) of any amount of the Hammer price between $100,000 and $1,000,000.00 and 18% (eighteen percent) of any amount above this

Arizona Tax Unless Exempt

Arizona State Tax in the amount of 8.77% will be charged on all sales to buyers who are 1) Not Exempt by virtue of being a reseller and Gallery has a Certificate of Resale on file by the time payment is made; 2) Not Exempt by virtue of being a non-profit or government entity and Gallery has a Certificate of Exemption on file by the time payment is received; 3) Live in one of 5 states that does not charge State Tax, those states being New Hampshire, Oregon, Montana, Alaska or Delaware or 4) Who are buying from outside of the USA.

Condition

All Lots Sold "AS IS". Neither the Gallery nor Auctioneer nor Consignor make any express or implied warranties or representations with respect to the property or correctness of the advertisement, catalog, Lot descriptions and any other medium used to announce this auction or any other description of the physical condition, attribution, provenance, genuineness, description, condition of the property, estimate of value, quality, importance, size or authenticity of the property offered and described either online or via telephone, text, email or any other communication.

Condition: A condition report may be obtained by viewing the online catalog, or you may contact the Gallery. Not withstanding any condition reports or catalog descriptions provided, all lots are offered and sold AS IS In most cases, we describe the quality of the impression of the print. We have never seen perfect prints as they can have wipe marks and abrasions made by the photographer etc. Our Rankings relate to both 1) tone and richness of the print and 2) physical condition. These subjective criteria are then combined for the final subjective ranking designation based on the many thousands of prints Andrew Smith has seen. Handling marks are dents in the print from being handled by the photographer or others. They can be small moon-shaped-crescents to splits in the emulsion. As our condition grades go down from Excellent to Fair the handling marks noted in those descriptions go from minor visual impairments with no damage to emulsion to major visual impairments with damaged emulsion.

Excellent: Tones Richness is 9-10 on a scale of 10. The print may include minor wear, light abrasions and other flaws generally visible only in raking light and not impacting the visual enjoyment of the print. Mounts and margins can have other problems and the print can still be excellent. Normal wear is expected on all older prints, on the emulsion and to edges or corners of mounts/prints.

Very Good: Tones Richness is 7- 8 on a scale of 10 with minor to mild wear. Mild wear indicates there may be some visual impact, small abrasion, scuffs, spots bent corner that can be matted out, stain or handling mark. It has very little negative impact on the visual enjoyment of the print.

Good: Tones Richness is 5-6 on a scale of 10. Yellowing, Shifting color tones, fading, or perhaps a very rich print with more severe wear - noticeable abrasions, stains, scuffs or handling marks as well as deterioration of the historic original mounts.

Fair: Condition issues or fading are noticeable might have physical conditions such as moderate abrasions, scuffs, staining, small emulsion loss, handling dents etc. that affect the print.