THE WAY WE WERE AT BONHAMS PHOTOGRAPHS OF WOMEN’S PUB OUTINGS IN 1950S LONDON OFFER A SNAPSHOT OF CHURCHILLIAN POST-WAR SPIRIT
Fascinating photographs of London Women’s Pub Outings in Battersea and Clapham taken by Scottish photographer Grace Robertson in the 1950s are being sold at Bonhams, New Bond Street, as part of its sale of Photographs on 20 May 2010.
The four images follow a group of women on a series of pub outings laughing, dancing, forming a conga line and going on a theme park ride. Robertson commented on the experience of photographing these women: “I can’t recall ever having been present at a more high-spirited gathering of like-minded people who, for a few hours, gave themselves utterly to the enjoyment of the moment.”
The photographs, which were printed in the British photojournalism publication Picture Post, are expected to fetch £500 – 800 each.
The sale features 18 important examples of mid-20th century photojournalism in total, including works by Thurston Hopkins such as La Dolce Vita, Knightsbridge, 1950 (estimate £1,000 – 1,500) and Tango In The East End, London, 1954 (£700 – 900). Two pictures from Wolfgang Suschitzky’s famous Charing Cross series, Charing Cross Road, London, 1937 and Charing Cross Road from No. 84, London, 1937 are expected to fetch £600 – 800 and £700 – 900 respectively.
Other key photojournalists of this generation to feature in the sale include Bert Hardy, John Humphrey Spender and Bill Brandt.
Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son and Neale UK. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America. Today, Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street, and Knightsbridge, and a further five throughout the UK. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Carmel, New York and Boston in the USA; Toronto, Canada; and France, Monaco, Hong Kong and Dubai. Bonhams has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 57 specialist areas. By the end of 2009, Bonhams had become UK market leaders in ten key specialist collecting areas. For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments, go to www.bonhams.com
