An exclusive sale of signature photographs from a private Chicago collection.

artnet.com/auctions/allure-and-americana-1122

Allure & Americana: A Collector’s Eye presents intimate works from a single collection that capture the fragility of youth, from carefree abandon to moments of lost innocence, as well as more mature images of feminine allure. Alongside this are images that celebrate America, from historic moments to cityscapes to celebrity culture.

Artnet Auctions presents ‘Allure and Americana: A Collector’s Eye‘ this week, a diverse and extraordinary collection of 20th- and 21st-century photographs. Including historically significant works like Edward Weston’s Nude on Sand, Oceano (1936) plus contemporary highlights like Sunflowers, after Vincent Van Gogh (2004) by Vik Muniz, the range of photographers, subject matter, and time periods add up to the idiosyncratic eye of the singular collector J.P. Loup. Based in Chicago, Loup has spent a lifetime involved with art and antiques, and as a dealer sold works ranging from 19th-century Impressionists to contemporary paintings by emerging artists. The works included in ‘Allure and Americana’ represent Loup’s only foray into the realm of photography, and as such illustrate his very personal and distinct aesthetic inclinations.

Originally from France and the progeny of a successful French shoe retailer, Loup immigrated to Chicago in 1965 with little more than a few traveler’s checks and a training visa to work for Florsheim shoes. Speaking very little English, Loup began his career at Florsheim doing menial tasks—acting as a porter, cleaning the floor, returning shoes to the stockroom. He also began reselling small antiques on the weekends to help make ends meet, and eventually became so successful that, at his peak, he was one of the biggest advertisers in the art world—the only person who had a center spread in the Wall Street Journal and up to eight pages in National Geographic.