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sothebys sets new world record for photography auction

Sotheby's New York held a single-owner auction titled "175 Masterworks To Celebrate 175 Years of Photography: Property from Joy of Giving Something Foundation" on December 11 and 12, achieving a world record for a photography auction. The sale grossed $21,325,063, surpassing its presale estimate of $13–20 million and beating the previous record of $15 million set by a Sotheby's sale in 2006. The collection came from the late American financier Howard Stein, who founded the Joy of Giving Something Foundation in 1999. The auction had a strong sell-through rate of 90.3 percent by lot and 94.9 percent by value, with top lots including Alvin Langdon Coburn's "Shadows and Reflections, Venice" (1905) at $965,000 and August Sander's "Handlanger" at $749,000. Several female photographers set new records, including Tina Modotti, Julia Margaret Cameron, and Lee Miller.

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Rain, insomnia and finding a model: how Morocco challenged and changed Matisse

Henri Matisse made two pivotal trips to Tangier, Morocco, in 1912-1913, documented in Jeff Koehler's new book *Matisse in Morocco: A Journey of Light and Colour*. At a low point in his career—having lost patrons and critical support after his Fauve period—Matisse sought new inspiration, producing over 20 paintings despite challenges like rain, insomnia, and difficulty finding models. Commissions from Russian collectors Sergei Shchukin and Ivan Morozov helped fund the trips, and Matisse worked at the Villa Brooks estate, creating works such as *Moroccan Landscape (Acanthus)* (1912) and *The Palm* (1912). The article also highlights Matisse's discovery of fingerprints on *View of the Bay of Tangier* (1912-13) and his reliance on a Moroccan model named Zorah.