The 73 most expensive photographs ever sold

A while ago, we did an article on the top 19 most expensive photographs that seemed to get a lot of attention. This time, we decided to make a larger list and bring to light 73 photographs that have been sold in the art world at very high prices. Before having a look at this list, there are two things I would like to point out. I know you will probably be amazed of how some of them have been sold for so much money. So was I, but I’m not here to judge.. I made this list because I believe it contains some landmarks that will help us get a sense of where photography is in the art world. There are one or two artists who clearly dominate the photography sales in the art world, and if for nothing else, I believe they deserve respect for that. The second thing I’d like to point out is that the entire list is based on public information. If that information is untrue or incomplete, I apologize in advance. Most of the transactions in the art world are done through auction houses, and the information they make public is entirely up to them.

With that said, here is the list of the 73 most expensive photographs ever sold.

Andreas Gursky- “Rhein II”, $ 4,335,500, Christie’s New York, November 2011

It is a large scale photograph representing one of the artist’s favorite view points of the Rhein River. According to Gursky himself, he carried the idea of the picture with him for about a year and a half before taking it, and when he finally took it, some of the elements that bothered him had to be taken out of the frame.

Recommended Reading:

Andreas Gursky: Architecture
Andreas Gursky: Photographs
Andreas Gursky: Photographs from 1984 to the Present
Andreas Gursky: Images

Cindy Sherman, “Untitled”, $ 3,890,500, Christie’s New York, May 2011

It is considered Sherman’s best work from that period and it is one of the most sought after photographs ever. The artist photographed herself in the posture of a teenage girl. While the image is clearly composed, the narrative behind it is deliberately ambiguous.

Recommended Reading:

Cindy Sherman
Cindy Sherman: The Complete Untitled Film Stills
Cindy Sherman: The Early Works: Catalogue Raisonné, 1975-1977
Cindy Sherman: Working Girl

Gilbert and George, “To Her Majesty” ,$ 3,760,741, Christie’s London, June 2008

Gilbert and George are an artistic duo known for producing large scale photographic series together. This series was executed in 1973. The images represent some of their drunken evenings from the early ‘70s. They also call themselves living sculptures.

Jeff Wall, “Dead troops talk”, $ 3,666,500, Christie’s New York, May 2012

It represents Wall’s vision of how dead soldiers would have talked after an ambush of a Red Army Patrol, during the Soviet-Afghan war.

Richard Prince, “ Untitled- Cowboy”,$ 3,401,000, Sotheby’s New York, November 2007

It is Prince’s most well-known work. It is taken from the famous Marlboro advertising campaign. It has been said that the Cowboy works are actually self-portraits of Prince, as a regular guy.

Andreas Gursky, “99 cent II”, $ 3,346,456, Sotheby’s London, February 2007

It is also a large scale photograph, a chromogenic color print, depicting the colorful goods inside a supermarket.

Recommended Reading:

Andreas Gursky: Architecture
Andreas Gursky: Photographs
Andreas Gursky: Photographs from 1984 to the Present
Andreas Gursky: Images

Andreas Gursky, “Los Angeles”,$ 2,941,483 , Sotheby’s London, February 2008

Once again, the large size is typical for Grusky’s work and this too is 6x12 feet.

Recommended Reading:

Andreas Gursky: Architecture
Andreas Gursky: Photographs
Andreas Gursky: Photographs from 1984 to the Present
Andreas Gursky: Images

Edward Steichen, ‘The Pond- Moonlight”, 2,928,000, 2006

It was taken in 1904 and it is said that there are only three remaining versions of it in the world today. At the time of the auction, it was the most expensive photograph ever sold.

Recommended Reading:

Edward Steichen: Lives in Photography
Edward Steichen: In High Fashion - The Conde Nast Years, 1923-1937
Edward Steichen: A Life in Photography
The Bitter Years: Edward Steichen and the Farm Security Administration Photographs

Cindy Sherman, “Untitled #153”, $ 2,700,000, Phillip de Pury & Co., New York, November 2010.

Another one of Sherman’s classic self-portraits, one that seems profoundly inspired by fairy tales.

Recommended Reading:

Cindy Sherman
Cindy Sherman: The Complete Untitled Film Stills
Cindy Sherman: The Early Works: Catalogue Raisonné, 1975-1977
Cindy Sherman: Working Girl

Unknown photographer, “Billy the Kid”, $2,300,000, 2011

It is the only surviving, authenticated portrait of the American gunman.

Andreas Gursky, “Pyongyang IV”, $2,125,736, Sotheby’s London, October 2010

Gursky went through some trouble for this one, not only because he took it in North Korea, but because he kept pushing the communist authorities to allow him to place the camera in a higher position. He ended up shooting from the Kim Il Sung’s view point.

Recommended Reading:

Andreas Gursky: Architecture
Andreas Gursky: Photographs
Andreas Gursky: Photographs from 1984 to the Present
Andreas Gursky: Images

Cindy Sherman, “Untitled no. 92”, $2,112,000, Christie’s New York, May 2007

This piece from Cindy Sherman is very much different from the rest of her work. It closely resembles a movie still and it has a certain documentary feel as well.

Recommended Reading:

Cindy Sherman
Cindy Sherman: The Complete Untitled Film Stills
Cindy Sherman: The Early Works: Catalogue Raisonné, 1975-1977
Cindy Sherman: Working Girl

Andreas Gursky, “Rhein I”,$ 2,098,500, Sotheby’s New York, May 2011

Recommended Reading:

Andreas Gursky: Architecture
Andreas Gursky: Photographs
Andreas Gursky: Photographs from 1984 to the Present
Andreas Gursky: Images

Andreas Gursky, “Frankfurt”, $2,098,500, Sotheby’s New York, November 2010

Gursky is probably the best selling artist in photography and his style is easily recognizable. The amount of details in this piece will probably make viewers spend a significant amount of time studying the work.

Recommended Reading:

Andreas Gursky: Architecture
Andreas Gursky: Photographs
Andreas Gursky: Photographs from 1984 to the Present
Andreas Gursky: Images

Gilbert & George, “Bloody Life no.13”,$ 2,000,785, Christie’s London, February 2012

It is regarded as one of the most important series in their career. It was in the same private collection for over 40 years. All sixteen images were hand colored.

Andreas Gursky,”Untitled VI”, $1,986,500, Sotheby’s New York, May 2012

“Untitled VI” is a photograph of Jackson Pollock’s painting, “One”, probably on display at the Modern Museum of Art. At first glance, it seems like an ordinary documentary photograph. Gursky, however, manipulated the colors in the painting itself, by altering the original colors black, grey, orange and white.

Recommended Reading:

Andreas Gursky: Architecture
Andreas Gursky: Photographs
Andreas Gursky: Photographs from 1984 to the Present
Andreas Gursky: Images

Hiroshi Sujimoto, “Black Sea. Ozuluce, Yellow Sea.Cheju, Red Sea”, $1,888,000, Christie’s New York, May 2007

The artist chose to illustrate the colors in the names of the seas using black and white film. In his own words, he was curious about the names of the seas and thus went to the locations to try and figure it out for himself.

Dimitry Medvedev, “Tobolsk Kremlin”, $1,750,000, 2010

This aerial photograph was taken by none other than former Russian President, Dimitry Medvedev.

Andreas Gursky, “Madonna I”, $1,684,280, Sotheby’s London, February 2010

Gursky photographed Madonna during one of her concerts and made a 9 foot tall print of it. Apparently, she didn’t fancy it very much, but I imagine it wasn’t a life tragedy for him, as he is in high demand anyway.

Recommended Reading:

Andreas Gursky: Architecture
Andreas Gursky: Photographs
Andreas Gursky: Photographs from 1984 to the Present
Andreas Gursky: Images

Edward Weston, “Nude”, $1,609,000, Sotheby’s New York, April 2008

Other than his famous nature photographs, Weston’s biggest challenge was the human body and its eroticism. His nudes are among the most important landmarks in the history of photography.

Recommended Reading

Edward Weston: 125 Photographs
In Focus: Edward Weston: Photographs From the J. Paul Getty Museum
Edward Weston: The Last Years in Carmel
Edward Weston (Aperture Masters of Photography)

Robert Prince, “Untitled Cowboy”, $1,570,824, Christie’s London , October 2011

Also part of Prince’s iconic series, it furthers his investigation in the American archetype and presents a lonesome ranger figure. His magnificent and highly recognizable style is in all the works of the series.

Andreas Gursky, “Untitled V”, $1,508,316, Christie’s London, February 2011

It is probably one of the most powerful examinations of public consumerism. As with the rest of Gursky’s work, it is a large scale photograph taken inside a luxury goods store.

Recommended Reading:

Andreas Gursky: Architecture
Andreas Gursky: Photographs
Andreas Gursky: Photographs from 1984 to the Present
Andreas Gursky: Images

Andreas Gursky, “Engadin II”, $1,504, 848, Sotheby’s London, June 2011

In this piece, Gursky captures the passage of hundreds of skiers thorough the Alpine valley.

Recommended Reading:

Andreas Gursky: Architecture
Andreas Gursky: Photographs
Andreas Gursky: Photographs from 1984 to the Present
Andreas Gursky: Images

Herbert Bayer, “Lonely Metropolitan”, $1,482,500, Sotheby’s New York, December 2012

Bayer, one of the most important figures in the Bauhaus movement, was also one of the pioneers of the photomontage. Most of his work, just like the “Lonely Metropolitan” is made of surrealistic montages.

Laszlo Moholoy-Nagy,”Fotogramm”, $1,482,500, Sotheby’s New York, December 2012

Nagy was fascinated with light in all its forms, and he therefore experimented with photography, painting and even sculpture. He believed he could achieve new ways of seeing through the manipulation of light. He began experimenting with photograms in 1922, thus combining painting with photography.

Richard Prince, “Untitled ( Fashion)”,$ 1,464,384, Christie’s London

This piece from Prince’s portfolio, taken sometime in the early SC, reminds the viewer of Man Ray’s work. The woman, photographed from the profile and wearing a mask over her face suggests a great deal, but the exploration of female grace is probably not among them.

Richard Prince, “Untitled (Cowboy)”, $1,426,500, Phipplips de Pury & Co. New York, May 2012.

Another piece from the famous series, portraying the idealized figure of American masculinity.

Cindy Sherman, “Untitled no.88”, $1,426,500, Christie’s New York, November 2010

Sherman, in her own words, likes characters who don’t smile. From her perspective, it gives the viewer the freedom to come up with a narrative.

Recommended Reading:

Cindy Sherman
Cindy Sherman: The Complete Untitled Film Stills
Cindy Sherman: The Early Works: Catalogue Raisonné, 1975-1977
Cindy Sherman: Working Girl

Cindy Sherman, “Untitled no. 420”, 1,426,500$, Christie’s New York, November 2010

Another of Sherman’s classic self-portraits, this time she puts herself in the shoes of a clown.

Recommended Reading:

Cindy Sherman
Cindy Sherman: The Complete Untitled Film Stills
Cindy Sherman: The Early Works: Catalogue Raisonné, 1975-1977
Cindy Sherman: Working Girl

Richard Prince, “Untitled ( Cowboy)”,$1,419,795, Sotheby’s London, June 2008

Also part of the iconic series about the idealized American masculinity found in the cowboy.

Richard Prince, “Untitled ( Cowboy)”,$1,385,000, Sotheby’s New York, May 2008

Also part of the iconic series about the idealized American masculinity found in the cowboy.

Andreas Gursky, “Pyongyan IV”, $1,375,000, Sotheby’s New York, February 2008

Part of the same series difficulty captured by Gursky because of the strict North Korean authorities.

Recommended Reading:

Andreas Gursky: Architecture
Andreas Gursky: Photographs
Andreas Gursky: Photographs from 1984 to the Present
Andreas Gursky: Images

Alfred Stieglitz, “Georgia O’Keeffe, hands”, $1,300,000, Sotheby’s New York, February 2006

Stieglitz took a series of about three hundred photographs of painter Georgia O’Keeffe. He would consider images such as this as portraits of body parts.

Recommended Reading

Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set - Volume I & II: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Photographs
Alfred Stieglitz New York
Stieglitz: Camera Work (25th Anniversary Special Edtn)
Stieglitz, Steichen, Strand: Masterworks from The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Andreas Gursky, “Pyongyang II”, $1,296,797, Christie’s London, February 2012

Another of Gursky’s series captured in North Korea, with the same impressive size and a subject not accessible to most photographers.

Recommended Reading:

Andreas Gursky: Architecture
Andreas Gursky: Photographs
Andreas Gursky: Photographs from 1984 to the Present
Andreas Gursky: Images

Gilbert & George, “Bad thoughts no.2”, $1,286,035, Sotheby’s London, February 2008

It is composed of sixteen hand dyed gelatin silver prints and it dates back to 1975. It is within the classic style of the artistic duo.

Andreas Gursky, “Borse, Tokyo”, $1,268,035, Sotheby’s London, February 2008

No matter if it’s a carefully planned montage or a captured scene, Gursky’s work is all about details and the pleasure of studying them.

Recommended Reading:

Andreas Gursky: Architecture
Andreas Gursky: Photographs
Andreas Gursky: Photographs from 1984 to the Present
Andreas Gursky: Images

Edward Curtis, “North American Indians”, $1,250,000, Christie’s New York, October

After meeting some members from a local Indian tribe, around Seattle, Curtis decided to start a long term project, photographing their community and their way of life. It turned into his life work.

Cindy Sherman, “Untitled Film Still no. 48”, $1,217,000, Christie’s New York, November 2007

This time, Sherman stands on the side of a road, unlike other of her photographs which are taken indoors.

Recommended Reading:

Cindy Sherman
Cindy Sherman: The Complete Untitled Film Stills
Cindy Sherman: The Early Works: Catalogue Raisonné, 1975-1977
Cindy Sherman: Working Girl

Man Ray, “Untitled Rayograph”, $1,203,750, Christie’s NY, April 2013

Man Ray was one of the pioneers of modern photography, and although e referred to his works as “rayographs”, he is one of the most iconic photographers of the 20^th century.

Andreas Gursky, “ Chicago Mercantile Exchange”,$ 1,202,500, Sotheby’s New York, April 2013

Recommended Reading:

Andreas Gursky: Architecture
Andreas Gursky: Photographs
Andreas Gursky: Photographs from 1984 to the Present
Andreas Gursky: Images

Alfred Stieglitz, “Georgia O’Keeffe, nude”, $1,200,000 , Sotheby’s New York, February 2006

Recommended Reading

Richard Avedon, “ Dovima with elephants”, $1,149,815, Christie’s Paris, September 2010

Avedon is one of, if not the most influential photographer of the 20^th century, and I don’t think I’m alone when I say his work is underrated in the art world. This series, taken with one of America’s top models of the time is some of his best and most iconic work.

Andreas Gursky, “James Bond Island”, $1,117,948, Sotheby’s London, February 2012

It can be said that this is slightly different from what you would expect from Gursky, yet it is a famous photograph and like most of his work, in high demand from collectors.

Recommended Reading:

Andreas Gursky: Architecture
Andreas Gursky: Photographs
Andreas Gursky: Photographs from 1984 to the Present
Andreas Gursky: Images

Edward Weston, “”Nautilus”, $1,105,000, Sotheby’s New York, October 2007

Weston’s fascination with sea shells happened after noticing a few paintings in Henrietta Shore’s studio. After many years of photographing them, it became clear that they were one of the most important parts of his work.

Recommended Reading

Edward Weston: 125 Photographs
In Focus: Edward Weston: Photographs From the J. Paul Getty Museum
Edward Weston: The Last Years in Carmel
Edward Weston (Aperture Masters of Photography)

Gilbert & George, “Dead boards no.13”, $1,077,412, Sotheby’s London, July 2008

The setting for this series was their wood paneled house in Fournier Street, in the East End of London. At that time it was in a considerably bad shape and it somehow inspired these and other photographs.

Gustave Le Gray, “Bateaux quittant le port du Havre, 1856 ou 1857”, $1,058,274, Philippe Rouillac, June 2011

It is a scene showing the departure of a fleet from the port of Le Havre, sometime around 1856.

Thomas Struth, “Pantheon, Rome”, $1,049,000, Christie’s New York, November 2007

Originally estimated at no more than $700,000.

Andreas Gursky, “Klitschko”, 1,028,072, Christie’s London, February 2008

Recommended Reading:

Andreas Gursky: Architecture
Andreas Gursky: Photographs
Andreas Gursky: Photographs from 1984 to the Present
Andreas Gursky: Images

Hiroshi Sujimoto, “Aegean Sea,Pilion”,$1,028,072, Christie’s London, February 2008

It was executed in 1990 and is number three from an edition of five.

William Eggleston, “Los Alamos”. $1,022,500, Christie’s New York, Christie’s New York

Eggleston is one of the pioneers of color photography. He chose to photograph this series at Los Alamos, between 1965 and 1974, at a location once used for testing nuclear weapons.

Cindy Sherman, “Untitled 209”, $1,007,367, Phillips de Pury & Co., London, June 2008

With this piece, Sherman portrays herself as a sort of modern Mona Lisa.

Recommended Reading:

Cindy Sherman
Cindy Sherman: The Complete Untitled Film Stills
Cindy Sherman: The Early Works: Catalogue Raisonné, 1975-1977
Cindy Sherman: Working Girl

Paul Strand, “Akeley Motion Picture Camera”, $783,750, Christie’s New York, April 2013

It is a photograph taken by Strand of the film-movement mechanism in a camera he had bought to make a living with.

Robert Frank, “Trolley-New Orleans”, $663,750, Christie’s New York, April 2013.

Part of Frank’s famous series “The Americans”.

Diane Arbus, “Identical twins Cathleen and Colleen”, $602,500, Phillips New York, April 2013

Diane Arbus’s work was famous for the strangeness of the characters portrayed. Her entire work was based on finding the less “normal” figures of her community.

Edward Weston, “Two Shells”, $533,000, Sotheby’s NY, April 2013

Another of Weston’s series rooted in his fascination for sea shells.

Recommended Reading

Edward Weston: 125 Photographs
In Focus: Edward Weston: Photographs From the J. Paul Getty Museum
Edward Weston: The Last Years in Carmel
Edward Weston (Aperture Masters of Photography)

Laszlo Moholy Nagy, “Untitled (Photogram)”, $507,750, Christie’s NY, April 2013

Nagy’s work is a clear example of what some call”The European” school of photography.

Edward Weston, “Nude”, $483,750, Christie’s NY, April 2013

Another of Weston’s iconic nudes

Recommended Reading

Edward Weston: 125 Photographs
In Focus: Edward Weston: Photographs From the J. Paul Getty Museum
Edward Weston: The Last Years in Carmel
Edward Weston (Aperture Masters of Photography)

Irving Penn, “Woman in a Moroccan Palace”,$459, 750, Christie’s NY, April 2013

It is actually a photograph of his wife, Lisa Fonssagrives.

Ansel Adams, “Aspens, Northern New Mexico”, $423,750, Christie’s NY, April 2013

One of Adams’s famous landscapes

Man Ray, “Untitled , Cannes”, $387,750, Christie’s NY, April 2013

Robert Frank, “Hoboken”, $365,000, Sotheby’s NY, April 2013

It has been said that in the case of this particular photograph by Frank, the focus is not on the flag, but rather on the two people who reflect the presumed sadness of the American people at that time.

William Eggleston, “Greenwood, Mississippi”, $363,450, Christie’s NY, April 2013

One of the most debated photographs in art sales. Many “regular” photographers thought nothing of it, nor could they understand how it could have been sold for so much money. Either way, it is undeniable that Eggleston was one of the pioneers of color photography.

Tina Modotti, “Untitled ( Texture and Shadow)”,$363, 750, Christie’s NY, April 2013

One of the most important abstract photographs to go on sale in the art world.

Irving Penn, “Gingko Leaves, New York”, $363,750, Christie’s NY, April 2013

Again, one of the photographs that many amateurs and enthusiasts find unworthy of being called art. Late in his career, Penn took a lot of botanical photographs using a pinhole camera and very long exposures. His printing techniques were also legendary.

Alfred Stieglitz , “From the back window”, $363,750, Christie’s NY, April 2013

The iconic nightscape is one of Stieglitz’s most famous photographs.

Recommended Reading

Alvin L. Coburn, “Vortograph ( The Eagle)”, $339,750, Christie’s NY, April 2013

One of the first examples of how photography entered modernist art.

Alfred Stieglitz, “Georgia O’Keeffe”, $302,500, Christie’s NY, April 2013

More than 300 photographs of O’Keeffe were taken by Stieglitz. He kept working with her until he was too ill to lift the camera.

Recommended Reading

Robert Frank , “Trolley New Orleans”, $293,000, Sotheby’s NY, April 2013

Also one of Frank’s iconic portraits of American society.

Irving Penn, “Harlequin Dress ”,$290,500, Phillips NY, April 2013

Penn’s wife was also his best model.

William Eggleston, “Untitled ( Memphis 1971)”,$279,750

It has been said that even if Eggleston wasn’t the one who invented color photography, he was the one who gave it dignity.

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, “Lyon Stadium”, $278,500, Phillips NY, April 2013

It’s probably safe to say that this is one of the best examples of composition in the history of photography.

Ansel Adams, “Monolith, The Face of Half Dome”, $269,000, Sotheby’s NY, April 2013

Adams invented the “Zone System” for black and white photography and if this is one of his best known images created using that system.

Man Ray, “Monte Carlo Banknote”, $243,750, Christie’s NY, April 2013

Ray’s unique techniques made him a pioneer in photography and also an important figure in 20^th century art.

Also Read: 41 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULDN’T DATE A PHOTOGRAPHER

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Special Thanks to http://facebook.com/Trends.Photography.Art for your help with this list.