Magazine archive to fetch over $3m at auction

Photos and works of art depicting some of the most inaccessible and eye-catching places around the world will go on auction in a sale of National Geographic archive works.

The collection is expected to fetch more than $3 million when the items are auctioned in December in New York, Christie's said on Monday.

"National Geographic has been bringing its readers to the farthest corners of the Earth with its groundbreaking images for 125 years, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to offer these images to the people that they have inspired," Katherine Brambilla, at Christie's, said.

The Dec 6 sale, on the eve of the 125th anniversary of the National Geographic Society's founding, will include photos from the 1800s to the present, paintings by artists such as Andrew Wyeth and Newell Convers Wyeth, and works of art from the fields of geography, archeology, wildlife and cultures.

Newell Convers Wyeth's painting of two pirates, The Duel on the Beach, is expected to be one of the top-grossing works with a pre-sale estimate of $800,000 to $1.2 million.

Steve McCurry's haunting photograph Afghan Girl could go under the hammer for as much as $50,000.

The North American Indian, a record of traditional Native American culture by Edward S. Curtis with text and photographs, could sell for as much as $900,000.

"As we celebrate our past accomplishments and look forward to our new ones, we are thrilled to bring a selection of these special works of art to the public and enable them to share in the rich legacy of National Geographic," Maura Mulvihill, senior vice-president of the society and director of the National Geographic Image Collection, said in a statement.

Many of the 11.5 million images in its collection of photographs, illustrations and paintings have never been published or exhibited, she added.

The proceeds will support the archives and programs to nurture emerging photographers and artists, Christie's said.

Reuters-AFP