Sensational Photo Collection

The most myth-laden photographic collection in Sweden comes under the hammer in the autumn. The couple Karin and Lars Hall have decided to part with the Swedish part of their extensive collection. Lars Hall, a pioneer in the Swedish advertising world, started in 1977 the first commercial photographic gallery in Sweden, Camera Obscura.

The sale at Bukowskis covers around one hundred items.

Legendary photo collection to Bukowskis
Christer Strömholm, Dawid, Mikael Jansson, Åke E:son Lindman, Lennart Olson and Hans Gedda – these are just some of the photographers whose work will come under the hammer at Bukowskis Contemporary Sale in November. The photographs, among them key works by Christer Strömholm, were purchased directly from the artists when they exhibited at Camera Obscura. The international part of the collection, which is not for sale, includes work by such renowned photographers as Irving Penn, Eugene Atget, André Kertész, Karl Blossfeldt, Jacques-Henri Lartigue, Eadweard Muybridge and others. It took around 35 years to build up the collection, which is generally considered to be the foremost private photographic collection in Sweden.

“I began collecting in earnest when I opened Camera Obscura in the Old Town in Stockholm with Lennart Durehed. We didn’t just mount exhibitions – we also established personal relation with all the artists,” says Lars Hall.

The pre-sale estimates for the Swedish part of the collection now to be sold range from a few thousand Swedish crowns to up to SEK 40,000–60,000.

About Lars Hall: 
Advertiser, founder of the successful advertising agency Hall & Cederquist which was later acquired by Young & Rubicam, a major New York based agency. Subsequently Lars Hall established a design studio working with major clients such as FöreningsSparbanken (today Swedbank), the Swedish train operator SJ and Elite Hotels.

The Camera Obscura gallery operated from 1977 to 1984. The first exhibition in the gallery featured Irving Penn, and was followed by hundreds of shows by Swedish and international photographers.

Article in Svenska Dagbladet (daily paper) September 15, Fotografiets faddrar

On sale at 
Contemporary– Stockholm
Viewing: November 6 – 13
Auction: November 14 – 15 
Online catalogue

Interested? Contact Lena Nytén, Specialist Photography and Contemporary Art
+46 (0)8-614 08 17, lena.nyten@bukowskis.com