Auction houses like Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Phillips and others offer free admission to selling exhibitions for a few days before each auction. From time to time I will select notable auction lots to bring to your attention. This blog feature is not endorsed by the auction house nor written by any kind of art expert. Just idle musings that I hope encourages you to visit an auction house yourself to see what’s on view and available in New York City.

Yesterday I featured a lot at Christies from two millennia ago, obviously things have changed greatly since then.  Today I am highlighting a lot from Sotheby’s Photography Sale taken just a few decades ago by Ernst Haas.  The work is printed on a very large scale so if you visit the exhibit you can revel in all the fine detail and see a recent America (Route 66) that is very much gone now.

But photography itself would be unrecognizable to Mr. Haas if he were to return today.  Photography is now on every smart phone and every person has a smart phone.  What does that mean for the art form and for the collectors of the future?  Everything changes.  Look ahead.  As I always remind myself on my motorcycle, don’t look back, you’re going to hit what’s right in front of you.

The photography sale is open now (stop by this weekend) through Monday and sells on Tuesday, April 10.

As always you can find more at http://www.walterthinnes.com and on Twitter @walterthinnes

NEXT WEEK: Lots and Days and Days and Lots