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Sotheby’s lists an early print of Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother with an estimate of $100,000–$150,000. The $150,000 figure is the estimate’s upper limit—not a confirmed sale price. Sotheby’s describes the print as likely made in 1936–1937; the available lot information does not establish its final result or complete provenance.
What does the $150,000 figure mean?
It is the ceiling of Sotheby’s auction estimate for this specific print, whose estimate range is $100,000–$150,000. An estimate is an auction house’s valuation before a sale, not evidence of what a buyer ultimately paid. Without an updated record confirming the lot’s outcome, the print’s realized price should be treated as unconfirmed. Sotheby’s listing
What is the offered print?
Dorothea Lange photographed Migrant Mother in Nipomo, California, in 1936, while working for the Resettlement Administration, later renamed the Farm Security Administration. The subject was Florence Owens Thompson with her children. Lange later recalled, as quoted by MoMA: “I made five exposures, working closer and closer from the same direction.” MoMA describes the encounter at a camp after a pea-crop failure and the photograph’s wide circulation and association with migrant farm workers’ plight during the Depression. MoMA’s collection record
Sotheby’s describes its offered object as a ferrotyped gelatin silver print, executed in 1936 and probably printed between 1936 and 1937. The listing notes a Resettlement Administration credit stamp and annotations on the reverse. These details describe the particular object; they do not, by themselves, establish a complete ownership history.
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How can an early print be distinguished from later versions?
The title refers to a famous image, but prints made from it are not interchangeable. Date, photographic process, edition status, markings, condition, and provenance all help distinguish one object from another—and affect how an auction estimate applies.
| Object | What the record says | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Sotheby’s offered print | Ferrotyped gelatin silver print; likely printed 1936–1937; Resettlement Administration credit stamp and reverse annotations; estimate $100,000–$150,000. Sotheby’s listing | This is the object to which the $150,000 estimate ceiling applies. The estimate is not a sale result. |
| MoMA collection print | A separate gelatin silver print, printed in 1949. MoMA collection record | It is a later print, not the Sotheby’s early print. |
| Library of Congress copy | A photogravure published in 1982; its cataloged copy is numbered 72/300. Library of Congress catalog record | A photogravure edition is a different object and process from a gelatin silver photographic print. |
Stamps and annotations are useful identifying evidence, but a buyer assessing a particular print would also need to consider its condition and documented provenance. The available information does not establish the Sotheby’s lot’s complete provenance.
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Does another auction result show what this print will sell for?
No. Phillips reports that a different Migrant Mother print sold for $337,500 against its own $100,000–$150,000 estimate. That is a result for a separate lot, not the Sotheby’s print’s result, and it cannot be transferred directly to this object. The Phillips record cited here does not establish a publication year. Phillips auction record
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallComparisons are meaningful only when the objects and sale figures are kept distinct: an early print, a later gelatin silver print, and a numbered photogravure are not equivalent; nor is an auction estimate the same as a realized price.
Quick Recap
Rank #3
- Migrant Mother
- Print Type
- Paper Size: 8.00 x 10.00 inches
- Licensor: Bentley Global Arts Group
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