For a primer on what it means to create something new in photography, take a couple of hours between now and next Monday noon to see more than a thousand photographs from the historic Polaroid Collection, on view until then at Sotheby's. The collection is being sold "by Order of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Minnesota," according to the press release. More on that later.

The Polaroid Collection began as an informal trust between Dr. Edwin H. Land, the company's founder, and a number of stellar photographers, starting with Ansel Adams, who field tested just about every type of film and camera produced by the company. The visionary Land realized that no one could be more qualified to give him advice on product development through on-site research than the top photographers of the time. He offered film and cameras gratis in exchange for some of the work produced - usually based on nothing more than a conversation and a handshake.

Left t to right: David Levinthal, Cowboy with Lasso (From Wild West), unique large-format Polacolor print, est. $5/7,000. Ansel Adams, The Tetons and Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, mural-sized gelatin silver print, Est. $250/350,000; Chuck Close, 9-Part Self-Portrait, unique collage of large-format Polapan prints, Est. $50-70,000. Courtesy Sotheby’s New York, Photographs from The Polaroid Collection, June 21-22, 2010.

As the collection grew, it became known as the Polaroid Collection and the informal grants evolved into the Artists Support Program. Among the artists whose work from the collection is being offered for sale next week are Peter Beard, Chuck Close, David Levinthal, Robert Frank, Dorothea Lange, Bill Owens, Luigi Ghirri, Robert Heinecken, Helmut Newton, Carrie Mae Weems, Andy Warhol, William Wegman, David Hockney, Lucas Samaras, Laurie Simmons, Robert Mapplethorpe, and of course, Ansel Adams.

The pre-auction exhibition takes up most of Sotheby's York Avenue facility - and it's best to take it on from the top. That is, go directly to the 10th floor and work your way down. Some of the largest and most interesting images are installed here, including work done using both the 20x24 and the 40x80 cameras.

Because of Ansel Adams's long-time commitment to Land and his artist program, he is represented by more than 400 photographs. In fact, several images by Adams are seen in multiple iterations, including Grand Tetons and Snake River, one of which is a mural-size print that originally hung at Polaroid's headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Chuck Close, the first artist to use the Polaroid 20x24 camera, is represented by several pieces, including a nine-part black-and-white self-portrait from 1987 that measures 70 x 61.5 inches. Along with Close among the original group invited by Polaroid to use the mammoth camera, of which 2 are currently in use and operated by highly trained technicians, was Lucas Samaras. Many of his early works from the Photo-Transformation series made with the SX-70 are here as well as more recent pieces made with the 40x80 camera.

There are many surprises in the show, including a number of photographs by Robert Heinecken, perhaps one of the more under-appreciated artists-working-with-camera to emerge during the Pop Art era. In his series Lessons on Posing Subjects, the artist combined SX-70 prints with text printed in letterpress on board, combining quasi-scientific observations with advertising jargon and porn-style imagery to form a trenchant commentary on force-fed consumer culture.

Consumer culture is also the theme in a group of images from Bill Owens's Suburbia series; by Lorna Simpson in Shoe Lover; as well as some strange and interesting work by Les Krims, who seamlessly blends the surreal, the political, and the obscene in highly manipulated SX-70 images.

It's not possible in a single DART post to describe the scope, content, and quality of the Polaroid Collection that goes on the block next week - except, perhaps, to say that it can be described as a view of American culture and art from the middle of the 20th century forward.

Photographs from the Polaroid Collection, on display at Sotheby's until noon on Monday, June 21st. 1334 York Avenue, New York, NY every day until noon on Monday June 21st. Please visit the website for hours and information. The auction takes place on June 21st and 22nd; for information on how to participate, click here. The beautifully designed and printed auction catalog, which runs to 480 pages, is sure to become a collector's item; click to order.

Editor's Note:
Many photographers whose work is included in this sale have expressed their disappointment that what can be called a National Treasure is being broken up. I guess you could say that it's too big to be saved; without a major institution or two stepping forward with the $11-or-so million that would be needed for the purchase, the Polaroid Collection has become the unwitting victim of a Madoff-like Ponzi scheme conducted by the previous owners of the Polaroid Corporation. For more information about that, see author and critic A.D. Coleman's point-by-point coverage of the situation as it unfolded.

The new Polaroid cameras and film now being offered under the Polaroid name, and instant film being offered by a group called the Impossible Project, are in no way connected to the sale of the Polaroid Collection or with PCI, the company that caused Polaroid's downfall in 2008.

061610