At 5 p.m. CST this afternoon, bidding closed on three separate chunks of the now-dismembered Polaroid Collection. For all intents and purposes, the dispersal of this unique, irreplaceable collection will have run its course by the end of this month.
The first phase of the ill-fated Collection’s distribution in parts took place last June, through the sale at Sotheby’s in New York City of much of the cream of the collection, skimmed off by that auction house at the request of the Trustee in charge of the collection, John R. Stoebner, with the approval of the Minnesota Bankruptcy Court. Click here for my report on the auction, and here for Stephen Perloff’s coverage thereof for this blog.
"Sotheby's Billboard, Manhattan, June 2010," by A. D. Coleman
As Perloff reported, “The sale of the Polaroid Collection was an unmitigated triumph for Sotheby’s — and therefore also for the creditors of Polaroid — totaling $12,467,638, comfortably exceeding the pre-sale estimate of $6.9–$10.7 million. The sale was 88.8% sold by lot. Fourteen new artist records were set, including ones for a single photograph by Ansel Adams, Andy Warhol, Lucas Samaras, and Harry Callahan, and for photographic works by Chuck Close, Robert Rauschenberg, and David Hockney.”
This two-day auction nevertheless left the fate of the bulk of the collection (which originally totalled some 16,000 pieces by recent official reckoning) up in the air. Trustee Stoebner thereupon subdivided this mass into three parts, as follows:
John R. Stoebner, Esq.
1. Some 10,000 pieces, currently stored in Somerville, MA, and referred to variously as the “Polaroid Fine Art Collection” — or, alternatively, and inexplicably, the “Artex Collection.” These pictures, plus some unspecified physical and legal assets, get cumulatively named the “Acquired Assets” in the relevant notices and filings.
2. A selection of perhaps 150 works still at Sotheby’s. This includes the 11.2 per cent of the auction offerings that went unsold, as well as the ones withdrawn from the auction as a result of the campaign to stop the auction. These are known in this sale or auction as the “Sotheby’s Assets.” The following lots ― with Sotheby’s estimated prices ― were withheld due to that campaign: Lot 26, Chuck Close: ‘5 C’ (Self Portrait)’ ($50,000–$70,000); Lot 145, Mary Ellen Mark: Selected New York Portraits ($8,000–$12,000); Lot 154, Andy Warhol: Martha Graham ($2,000–$3,000); Lot 170, Laurie Simmons: Selected Photographs from The Education Project ($4,000–$6,000); Lot 218, Joel Meyerowitz: Selected Images ($1,500–$2,500); Lot 223, Aaron Siskind: Selected Mexican Portraits ($1,500–$2,500); Lot 234, William Wegman: Selected Figure Studies ($5,000–$7,000); Lot 445, Various Photographers: Selected Self-Portraits ($2,000–$3,000); and Lot 462, Danny Lyon: Selected images ($5,000–$7,000).
3. Approximately 4500 works presently at the Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne, Switzerland, where a previous incarnation of the Polaroid Corporation deposited them years ago on long-term loan with the understanding that the loan would become permanent. These are known as the “Swiss Photographs.”
The Minnesota Bankruptcy Court opened formal bidding on these three lots, if I may use that term, on January 3, 2011, indicating a closing date for bids of January 20. The Court’s officers, Stoebner and his attorney, George H. Singer, announced this in a mailed notice falsely stating that the materials necessary to offer a competing bid were available online at the Court’s website ― still not true as of this writing. They made no other public announcement of this narrow 17-day window of opportunity, including no prompt notification to the international art press that had previously shown considerable interest in the fate of the collection, and would most likely have broadcast news of the imminently impending auction to prospective bidders.
Sen. Samuel James Ervin Jr.
That all seems intended to discourage competitive bidding. (As the late, lamented Sen. Sam Ervin said during the Watergate hearings, “A person is presumed to intend the natural consequences of his actions.” The most useful definition of “intent” I’ve ever heard, and the one on which I rely as a critic.) Discouraging competitive bidding would hardly be in the best interests of the creditors to whom the Court, and the Trustee, are obligated. It would, however, certainly cut down the workload and speed along the proceedings for the Court and its officers.
To be sure, they did have in hand bids on two of the three lots. As I noted in a previous post, a mysterious entity called Perle Holdings Inc. has bid $1,275,000.00 USD for what I’ll call Lot 1, the “Acquired Assets,” now the bulk of the remaining collection. Perle Holdings is somehow connected to a Luxembourg-based entity named Eastbridge N.V. (or Eastbridge B.V.), and asserts in the document accompanying its bid that it plans to create a “museum quality space . . . provid[ing] display and study opportunities with respect to the Acquired Assets for both general interest and scholarly audience, as well as a continued resource in photography, motion pictures, technology and books” . . . all of that inside 20 Exchange Place, a high-end residential/commercial structure that Eastbridge has partnered in renovating in the Wall Street district of New York. (See my preceding post for details on this bizarre concept.)
There are no formally identified bidders for Lot 2, the “Sotheby’s Assets,” for which the Trustee asks a minimum bid of $556.750.00 USD ― a price perhaps negotiable if no other bidders have shown up.
Impossible Project logo
The current bidder for Lot 3, the “Swiss Photographs,” is WestLicht-Peter Coeln GmbH, which has offered $755,000.00 USD for those 4500 prints. An unconfirmed rumor says that this bidder acts on behalf of a third party ― conceivably The Impossible Project, which has sought for some time to buy this group of works, with the declared intent of leaving them in their long-time Lausanne home via donation.
20 Exchange Place logo
With the bidding now closed, no new bidders can enter the fray at this point. If, prior to this afternoon, the Trustee received any competing bids on Lots 1 or 2 (a possibility to which I’m not privy), an auction will be held on January 24, starting at 9 a.m. CST. (The Order Approving Auction and Sale Procedures issued by Judge Gregory Kishel of the Minnesota Bankruptcy Court spells out the protocols and how-to for those bidders.)
• If there are no competing bids for Lot 1, the “Acquired Assets,” they will go as of the next day to Perle Holdings, Inc., presumably destined for their new home in the 20 Exchange Place shopping mall in downtown Manhattan.
• If there are no competing bids for Lot 2, the “Sotheby’s Assets,” they will go as of the next day to whoever met the Trustee’s minimum price (or negotiated a better deal). If there are no bids at all for this lot, its fate remains undetermined.
• The documents I received indicate, briefly, similar procedures in place for the auction or sale of Lot 3, the “Swiss Photographs,” although this lot goes oddly unmentioned in the Order Approving Auction and Sale Procedures. As they have a confirmed bidder for Lot 3, it seems reasonable to assume that the same guidelines would prevail. If there are competing bids, an auction will take place on January 24; if no competing bids, then the purchase by WestLicht-Peter Coeln GmbH will get confirmed on January 25, with the possible result that the works would simply stay where they are, at the Lausanne photo museum. A consummation devoutly to be wished ― and, from the standpoint of cultural heritage and photo/art history, the only good news in this otherwise sorry tale.
Presumably that news will get sent out sometime after January 25. I’ll report it as soon as it arrives.
This post supported by a donation from curator and historian Roy Flukinger.
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For an index of links to all previous posts related to this story, click here.
SPJ Research Award 2014
Polaroid Collection: They’re Closed
At 5 p.m. CST this afternoon, bidding closed on three separate chunks of the now-dismembered Polaroid Collection. For all intents and purposes, the dispersal of this unique, irreplaceable collection will have run its course by the end of this month.
"Sotheby's Billboard, Manhattan, June 2010," by A. D. Coleman
As Perloff reported, “The sale of the Polaroid Collection was an unmitigated triumph for Sotheby’s — and therefore also for the creditors of Polaroid — totaling $12,467,638, comfortably exceeding the pre-sale estimate of $6.9–$10.7 million. The sale was 88.8% sold by lot. Fourteen new artist records were set, including ones for a single photograph by Ansel Adams, Andy Warhol, Lucas Samaras, and Harry Callahan, and for photographic works by Chuck Close, Robert Rauschenberg, and David Hockney.”
This two-day auction nevertheless left the fate of the bulk of the collection (which originally totalled some 16,000 pieces by recent official reckoning) up in the air. Trustee Stoebner thereupon subdivided this mass into three parts, as follows:
John R. Stoebner, Esq.
1. Some 10,000 pieces, currently stored in Somerville, MA, and referred to variously as the “Polaroid Fine Art Collection” — or, alternatively, and inexplicably, the “Artex Collection.” These pictures, plus some unspecified physical and legal assets, get cumulatively named the “Acquired Assets” in the relevant notices and filings.
2. A selection of perhaps 150 works still at Sotheby’s. This includes the 11.2 per cent of the auction offerings that went unsold, as well as the ones withdrawn from the auction as a result of the campaign to stop the auction. These are known in this sale or auction as the “Sotheby’s Assets.” The following lots ― with Sotheby’s estimated prices ― were withheld due to that campaign: Lot 26, Chuck Close: ‘5 C’ (Self Portrait)’ ($50,000–$70,000); Lot 145, Mary Ellen Mark: Selected New York Portraits ($8,000–$12,000); Lot 154, Andy Warhol: Martha Graham ($2,000–$3,000); Lot 170, Laurie Simmons: Selected Photographs from The Education Project ($4,000–$6,000); Lot 218, Joel Meyerowitz: Selected Images ($1,500–$2,500); Lot 223, Aaron Siskind: Selected Mexican Portraits ($1,500–$2,500); Lot 234, William Wegman: Selected Figure Studies ($5,000–$7,000); Lot 445, Various Photographers: Selected Self-Portraits ($2,000–$3,000); and Lot 462, Danny Lyon: Selected images ($5,000–$7,000).
3. Approximately 4500 works presently at the Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne, Switzerland, where a previous incarnation of the Polaroid Corporation deposited them years ago on long-term loan with the understanding that the loan would become permanent. These are known as the “Swiss Photographs.”
Sen. Samuel James Ervin Jr.
That all seems intended to discourage competitive bidding. (As the late, lamented Sen. Sam Ervin said during the Watergate hearings, “A person is presumed to intend the natural consequences of his actions.” The most useful definition of “intent” I’ve ever heard, and the one on which I rely as a critic.) Discouraging competitive bidding would hardly be in the best interests of the creditors to whom the Court, and the Trustee, are obligated. It would, however, certainly cut down the workload and speed along the proceedings for the Court and its officers.
To be sure, they did have in hand bids on two of the three lots. As I noted in a previous post, a mysterious entity called Perle Holdings Inc. has bid $1,275,000.00 USD for what I’ll call Lot 1, the “Acquired Assets,” now the bulk of the remaining collection. Perle Holdings is somehow connected to a Luxembourg-based entity named Eastbridge N.V. (or Eastbridge B.V.), and asserts in the document accompanying its bid that it plans to create a “museum quality space . . . provid[ing] display and study opportunities with respect to the Acquired Assets for both general interest and scholarly audience, as well as a continued resource in photography, motion pictures, technology and books” . . . all of that inside 20 Exchange Place, a high-end residential/commercial structure that Eastbridge has partnered in renovating in the Wall Street district of New York. (See my preceding post for details on this bizarre concept.)
There are no formally identified bidders for Lot 2, the “Sotheby’s Assets,” for which the Trustee asks a minimum bid of $556.750.00 USD ― a price perhaps negotiable if no other bidders have shown up.
Impossible Project logo
The current bidder for Lot 3, the “Swiss Photographs,” is WestLicht-Peter Coeln GmbH, which has offered $755,000.00 USD for those 4500 prints. An unconfirmed rumor says that this bidder acts on behalf of a third party ― conceivably The Impossible Project, which has sought for some time to buy this group of works, with the declared intent of leaving them in their long-time Lausanne home via donation.
20 Exchange Place logo
With the bidding now closed, no new bidders can enter the fray at this point. If, prior to this afternoon, the Trustee received any competing bids on Lots 1 or 2 (a possibility to which I’m not privy), an auction will be held on January 24, starting at 9 a.m. CST. (The Order Approving Auction and Sale Procedures issued by Judge Gregory Kishel of the Minnesota Bankruptcy Court spells out the protocols and how-to for those bidders.)
• If there are no competing bids for Lot 1, the “Acquired Assets,” they will go as of the next day to Perle Holdings, Inc., presumably destined for their new home in the 20 Exchange Place shopping mall in downtown Manhattan.
• If there are no competing bids for Lot 2, the “Sotheby’s Assets,” they will go as of the next day to whoever met the Trustee’s minimum price (or negotiated a better deal). If there are no bids at all for this lot, its fate remains undetermined.
Presumably that news will get sent out sometime after January 25. I’ll report it as soon as it arrives.
This post supported by a donation from curator and historian Roy Flukinger.
•
For an index of links to all previous posts related to this story, click here.