Weekend Highlights: AFTER DARK: Photography
Weekend Highlights
Selections from AFTER DARK: Photography
Lot 40: PaJaMa (Paul Cadmus, Jared French, and Margaret French) (American, ca. 1940). Figure on Saltaire Beach, late 1940s. Gelatin silver print. Estimated at $1,000 - $1,500.
Taken in the late 1940s along the coast of Saltaire, Fire Island, this work by the artists collective PaJaMa was part of a series of personal photographs taken by Paul Cadmus, Jared French, and Margaret French during their seaside summer vacations. Starting in 1937, the trio began taking photographs of each other framed against the sand dunes using Margaret’s handheld Leica camera, later expanding their subjects to include other members of their circle including notable figures such as Glenway Wescott, Monroe Wheeler, and George Platt Lynes.
These photographs were originally printed in very small batches to be given out as personal gifts to the artists’ friends during dinner parties and other such events. In the 1980s, their work would see renewed interest in recognition of both the technical qualities of their photography and the bold, queer intimacy exhibited by the ménage à trois.
Lot 38: George Platt Lynes (American, 1907-1955). Jack Fontan, ca. 1950s. Gelatin silver print. Estimated at $2,000 - $3,000.
Our first featured work by George Platt Lynes is this portrait of the actor, painter, and model Jack Fontan posed nude within a doorway. Fontan was a frequent subject of Lynes’ photographs as well as those taken by the PaJaMa group, having entered into the Fire Island photography circle around the late 1940s.
Throughout the 1950s, Lynes would take a series of photographs of Fontan in various states of undress, often framing him within an entryway, as if the model had just stepped into the room for a late-night rendezvous.
Lot 39: George Platt Lynes (American, 1907-1955). Triptych, 1947-1950. Gelatin silver print. Estimated at $4,000 - $6,000.
This triptych of photographs by George Platt Lynes was first presented at Marcuse Pfeifer’s gallery circa 1990. Pfeifer’s was one of the first New York galleries centered exclusively around photography, having generated great controversy with its 1978 landmark exhibition of male nude photography by artists such as Robert Mapplethorpe, Lynn Davis, Sally Mann, and Peter Hujar.
The triptych itself showcases Lynes’ mastery of light and shadow as well as the underlying sculptural inspirations within his practice. Lynes posed his subjects in such a way to evoke comparisons to classical renditions of the male form, with the subjects in this triptych presented much in the manner of Greek sculptures: hands akimbo upon the hips; in such a way to show off the muscles of the rear; and in the traditional contrapposto pose.
Lot 4: Geoffrey Holder (Trinidadian/American, 1930-2014). Adam, ca. early 1980s. Gelatin silver print. Estimated at $1,500 - $2,000.
Lot 4 features a rare photograph by the Trinidadian-American artist, dancer, and director Geoffrey Holder. This work was part of the artist’s Adam series, a body of work comprised of black-and-white photography of the male form in motion.
This original photograph was later published in his 1986 photography collection, Adam, in which the artist celebrated the natural beauty of the male form through the model of the biblical Adam. Pairing together quotations from Genesis with dynamic compositions featuring the male nude, Holder's Adam showcases the transcendent qualities of man's physical features. The artist described his compositions in Adam as “body landscapes”, drawing a direct parallel to the biblical figure's origins in the earth.
Lot 3: Herb Ritts (American, 1952-2002). Three Male Torsos, from The Year of Tibet Portfolio II, 1986. Platinum print. Artist's Proof 21/24, Estimated at $2,500 - $3,500.
Our final highlight is Herb Ritts’ Three Male Torsos from The Year of Tibet Portfolio II, a photography portfolio assembled by the actor Richard Gere and the film producer Bill Borden. The Year of Tibet Portfolios were a pair of platinum-palladium print portfolios produced and sold in a limited edition of 100 for the benefit of the Tibet House cultural institution in New York. These portfolios included work from twenty-four of the most prominent photographers of the late 20th century, including Horst P. Horst, Annie Leibovitz, Bruce Weber, and Helmut Newton, amongst many others.
This particular photograph is a rare artist’s proof, numbered 21/24, separate from the edition of 100 later published by Gere and Borden via Tibet House.
Browse the catalog today to find these highlights and much more in AFTER DARK: Photography. There’s still plenty of time to register, request condition reports, or place pre-bids on any lots you’re interested in for next week's September 24th auction!
Don’t forget to follow us on instagram, and check out our Artists of AFTER DARK index to learn more about the histories and artists featured in our AFTER DARK auction series!
Mark your calendars for the livestreamed simulcast sale on 09/24/2026 at 7PM EST, and tune in to the video for exclusive commentary from the auctioneer.
Register today on our platform to access our lowest buyer’s premium (25%).