Thomas Glendenning Hamilton photographs up 1,462% in New York

An album of spiritualist photographs by Thomas Glendenning Hamilton has sold for $93,750 at Swann Auction Galleries.

The sale took place in New York, with the lot achieving an impressive 1,462% increase on a $6,000 high estimate.

The 27 photographs were taken between 1920 and 1922 in Dr Hamilton's Psychic Room at his home in Winnipeg.

Thomas Glendenning Hamilton photos
The photographs are mounted on black paper and heavily annotated

Hamilton (1873-1935) was a well-known spiritualist, whose investigations into the paranormal yielded thousands of photographs, which have permeated the cultural fabric as a result of their influence on artists and filmmakers.

The eerie images display people in trance-like states, and document phenomena including table rapping and ectoplasm - since revealed to be tissue paper with cut-out images of faces taped to it.

We have this signed photograph of Harry Houdini, who was committed to debunking spiritualism and regularly attended seances in order to expose the practice as fraudulent.

Self Portrait in a Platinum Wig by Andy Warhol (1928-1987) made $33,280 against a $20,000-30,000 estimate.

Warhol Platinum Wig
The lot is made up of two polaroids depicting Warhol in drag

The lot is comprised of two Polaroid prints that feature the artist in drag, with two different wigs. It features the debossed Warhol stamp on the reverse.

Recently Warhol's auction record was broken when his painting Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster) achieved $105.4m at Sotheby's New York - up 48% on the previous record of $71.1m.

An untitled photogram dating to 1997 by contemporary photographer Adam Fuss also performed well, achieving $25,000.

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