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1903 - 1908 Camera Work Magazines 

Value (2020) | $70,000 Auction – $100,000 Auction
Watch  

GUEST:
It was a gift from my mother about 40 years ago. She actually bought the collection at a house sale in Westchester County-- White Plains, New York, somewhere in that area.

APPRAISER:
Okay. So, what we have is a magazine called Camera Work. And on the table, we have five issues. But, in fact, you have how many of them?

GUEST:
Uh, there were 22 issues that I have, plus a supplement. 23 in total.

APPRAISER:
Plus the Steichen Supplement, which is right here.

GUEST:
Yes, right. It started January '03, and my last issue is April '08.

APPRAISER:
Camera Work is the pre-eminent art journal of the 20th century. It was edited and published by Alfred Stieglitz, who was a champion of fine art photography when photography was ridiculed in the art world and art press. And he was not adverse to featuring his own works.

GUEST:
Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER:
If we open this first issue, we see this very beautiful image, warm-toned photogravure. Stieglitz had actually been trained in the photogravure process, because when he told his father in the 1890s that he wanted to be a fine art photographer, his father was so horrified that he said, "You have to develop a skill. You need a trade." And so Stieglitz, being interested in photography, learned the art of making photogravures, which is the most sophisticated of the printing techniques. So, Stieglitz oversaw the creation of the many, many images that are in these different issues of the magazine. Camera Work was available by subscription, and the cost was six dollars a year. And each year, three or four different issues would be published, and those issues would reflect works by many different photographers. Another one of the photographers that was championed by Stieglitz was Clarence White. And we can see that Clarence White's photograph was reproduced on a very thin paper known as Japan tissue. One of the reasons that Camera Work is so prized is the delicacy of these very beautiful reproductions. The last issue features a reproduction of an Edward Steichen photograph called "The Pond." The original photograph recently sold at auction for over $3 million.

GUEST:
Wow.

APPRAISER:
So when we see a reproduction in Camera Work, which was a very limited edition, we can certainly imagine a price in the $10,000 range. I've seen all 23 issues that you brought in. In terms of putting an auction estimate on it, my estimate would be $60,000 to $90,000. It's an extraordinary group of materials with a full range of artistic reproductions by the masters of photography. So, thank you very much for bringing it in. It just really made my day.

GUEST:
Thank you-- it made my day, as well.

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Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Daile Kaplan
Photographs
Update (2020)
$70,000 Auction – $100,000 Auction
Appraised value (2006)
$60,000 Auction – $90,000 Auction
Featured In
Philadelphia, Hour 2 (#1105)
Vintage Philadelphia 2020 (#2419)
Event
Philadelphia, PA (August 05, 2006)
Category
Photographs
Period
20th Century
Form
Archive , Photograph
Material
Paper

Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.

Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."

Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.

Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.

Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.

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Article
What Is Photogravure?
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