An auction of autographs, photographs and theatrical memorabilia in New York on November 7th includes more than 700 autographs from the collection of one of the most distinguished photographers of the last century.
Hollywood and Broadway memorabilia of the Colleen Dewhurst and George C. Scott collection also go under the hammer.
Alfred Eisenstaedt (1898-1995) was famous for his pictures in Life magazine, where he worked as a staff photographer from 1936. Regarded as a father of photojournalism, his work was used on as many as 86 covers of Life magazine.
His autograph collection, being auctioned by Manhattan-based Doyle New York next Wednesday, includes signatures from John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill, Douglas MacArthur, T.S. Eliot, Pablo Picasso, Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando, Marlene Dietrich and Joan Crawford.
His famous picture of a nurse and sailor kissing in Times Square on V-J Day was hailed by Time magazine as one of the 10 greatest images in the history of photojournalism.
Eisenstaedt's subjects included many of the most famous and influential people of the last century from all walks of life. Eisenstaedt usually photographed them at the pinnacle of their careers and, adopting a policy photographers of today could do well to emulate, he always asked his sitters to sign his autograph album. Most sitters added personal messages, words of thanks, anecdotes, poems or even sketches. Two autographs from John F. Kennedy feature in the auction, with a note saying: "For Alfred Eisenstaedt, who, like all artists, makes it look easy." On the same page, Jacqueline Kennedy added: "I agree."
On the reverse of this sheet, Richard Nixon inscribed: "To Alfred Eisenstaedt with admiration for his artistic genius in covering our 1960 campaign." This sheet is estimated at $5,000 (€5,600) to $7,500.
The second John F. Kennedy autograph, dated February 1961, carries the same estimate and reads: "For Alfred Eisenstaedt who has caught us all on the edge of the new frontier - what will the passage of the next four years show on his revealing plate?"
Other famous political signatures include Winston Churchill, Douglas MacArthur, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan.
Writers and poets whose autographs enhance the collection include Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, T.S. Eliot, W.H. Auden, Robert Frost and W. Somerset Maugham, who wrote an extended note. An autograph by Pablo Picasso is estimated at $600 to $800. Hollywood stars who feature include Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brandon, Shirley Temple, Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire.
A separate collection of actors Colleen Dewhurst and George C. Scott, including scripts, photographs, letters, awards, programmes and promotional material, is also being auctioned by Doyle New York next Wednesday.
Dewhurst received acclaim for her performances in plays by Eugene O'Neill. Several O'Neill scripts with Dewhurst's annotations, including Mourning Becomes Electra and A Long Day's Journey into Night, feature in the collection, as does A Moon for the Misbegotten, which earned her a Tony Award.
Dewhurst (1924-1991) won four Emmy Awards, two Tonys, and was president of Actors' Equity from 1985 to 1991. She met George C. Scott in 1958 when both appeared off-Broadway in Children of Darkness, which ran for 301 performances. They married the following year.
Scott is perhaps most famous for his appearances in films like The Hustler, Anatomy of a Murder, Dr Strangelove and for playing the title role in Patton, for which he won but declined to accept the Oscar for Best Actor in 1971. He also turned down an Emmy for his role in Arthur Miller's The Price.
Irish Times film correspondent Michael Dwyer describes Scott as one of the great actors, who richly deserved his nominations and awards. Scott rejected the nominations on the grounds that acting is a serious profession and should not be trivialised by awards.
Website: www.DoyleNewYork.com
jmarms@irish-times.ie
