This post is for AMMpro subscribers (the first month of AMMpro is free and subscribers are welcome to sign up for the first month and cancel before they are billed.) 

On Friday, Sotheby’s Photographs sale, which was originally scheduled to take place as a live auction at the company’s New York headquarters ended its online bidding period— offering a total of 199 lots, the sale saw a sell-through rate of just 61%, but reached a solid total result of $3 million.

The leading lot among the group of works was László Moholy-Nagy photogram Broom: An International Magazine of the Arts, from 1922 – the edition is a rare example of early modern photography used in editorial design. Having been shown in seminal exhibitions such as 100 Years of Bauhaus’ show in Berlin, the work transferred ownership through Moholy-Nagy’s family and this is the first time the work had come to auction. Landing solidly within its estimate of $400,000-$600,000, the work only saw two bids before reaching its sale price of $524,000. Sotheby’s Head of Photographs Department in New York, Emily Bierman noted that among the group of works on offer “the result for the Moholy-Nagy is also a significant standout, as it is the third most valuable work sold in an online sale at Sotheby’s this year. In the past few seasons, we’ve seen considerable growth for the European Modernism photographs market, and the exceptional result for the Moholy-Nagy, which is one of the highest prices ever achieved at auction for a photograph by the artist, is a prime example of the strength of the market.”