List of most expensive photographs
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of the 30 highest prices paid for photographs (in US dollars unless otherwise stated). All prices include the buyer's premium, which is the auction house fee for handling the work.
List
| Rank | Artist | Work | Price | Date | Seller/Auction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man Ray | Le Violon d'Ingres (1924) | $12,400,000 | May 14, 2022 | Christie's New York[1] |
| 2 | Edward Steichen | The Flatiron (1904) | $11,800,000 | November 10, 2022 | Christie's New York[2] |
| 3 | Andreas Gursky | Rhein II (1999) | $4,338,500 | November 8, 2011 | Christie's New York[3] |
| 4 | Man Ray | Noire et Blanche (1926) | $4,020,000 | November 17, 2022 | Christie's New York[4] |
| 5 | Richard Prince | Spiritual America (1983) | $3,973,000 | May 12, 2014 | Christie's New York[5] |
| 6 | Cindy Sherman | Untitled #96 (1981) | $3,890,500 | May 11, 2011 | Christie's New York[6] |
| 7 | Cindy Sherman | Untitled #93 (1981) | $3,861,000 | May 14, 2014 | Sotheby's New York[7] |
| 8 | Gilbert & George | To Her Majesty (1973) | $3,765,276 | June 30, 2008 | Christie's London[8] |
| 9 | Richard Prince | Untitled (Cowboy) (1998) | $3,749,000 | May 12, 2014 | Christie's New York[9] |
| 10 | Jeff Wall | Dead Troops Talk (A vision after an ambush of a Red Army patrol, near Moqor, Afghanistan, winter 1986) (1992) | $3,666,500 | May 8, 2012 | Christie's New York[10] |
| 11 | Richard Prince | Untitled (Cowboy) (2000) | $3,525,000 | May 10, 2016 | Christie's New York[11] |
| 12 | Richard Prince | Untitled (Cowboy) (2001-2002) | $3,401,000 | November 14, 2007 | Sotheby's New York[12] |
| 13 | Andreas Gursky | 99 Cent II Diptychon (2001) | $3,346,456 | February 2007 | Sotheby's London[13] |
| 14 | Andreas Gursky | Chicago Board of Trade III (1999-2009) | $3,298,755 | June 26, 2013 | Sotheby's London[14] |
| 15 | Cindy Sherman | Untitled #93 (1981) | $3,150,000 | November 9, 2021 | Christie’s New York[15] |
| 16 | Man Ray | Noire et Blanche (1926) | $3,131,533 | November 8, 2017 | Christie's Paris[16] |
| 17 | Richard Prince | Untitled (Cowboy) (2000) | $3,077,000 | May 14, 2014 | Sotheby's New York[17] |
| 18 | Richard Prince | Untitled (Cowboy) (1997) | $3,030,000 | November 9, 2021 | Christie's New York[18] |
| 19 | Cindy Sherman | Untitled Film Still #48 (1979) | $2,965,000 | May 13, 2015 | Christie's New York[19] |
| 20 | Edward Steichen | The Pond—Moonlight (1904) | $2,928,000 | February 2006 | Sotheby's New York[20][21] |
| 21 | Andreas Gursky | Los Angeles (1998) | $2,900,000 | February 27, 2008 | Sotheby's London[22] |
| 22 | Cindy Sherman | Untitled #96 (1981) | $2,882,500 | May 8, 2012 | Christie's New York[23] |
| 23 | Man Ray | Noire et Blanche (1926) | $2,878,148 | June 25, 2025 | Sotheby's London[24] |
| 24 | Richard Prince | Untitled (Fashion) (1982) | $2,853,000 | May 10, 2016 | Christie's New York[25] |
| 25 | Richard Prince | Untitled (Cowboy) (2000) | $2,840,000 | May 16, 2007 | Christie's New York[26] |
| 26 | Cindy Sherman | Untitled #153 (1985) | $2,770,500 | November 8, 2010 | Phillips de Pury & Co. New York[27] |
| 27 | Richard Prince | Untitled (Cowboy) (1997) | $2,600,280 | October 9, 2024 | Christie's London[28] |
| 28 | Andreas Gursky | Chicago Board of Trade (1997) | $2,507,755 | June 23, 2013 | Sotheby's London[29] |
| 29 | Andreas Gursky | 99 Cent II Diptychon (2001) | $2,480,000 | November 16, 2006 | Phillips de Pury & Co. New York[30] |
| 30 | Andreas Gursky | Paris, Montparnasse (1993) | $2,416,475 | October 17, 2013 | Sotheby's London[31] |
Disputed claim
- In December 2014, Peter Lik reportedly sold a photograph titled Phantom to an anonymous bidder for $6.5 million, making it potentially the third highest price paid for a photograph.[32][33][34] Lik's claim has been greeted with much scepticism. Claims of the sale have never been proven, and the buyer has not come forward,[35] though a lawyer claiming to represent the buyer claims that the deal was real.[36]
Notable sales
In October 2021, Justin Aversano's Twin Flames #83. Bahareh & Farzaneh (2017–2018) sold for $1,110,000 at Christie's New York in the house's official Photographs auction — the first time an NFT had been offered within that department.[37][38] The lot comprised a single NFT accompanied by 100 chromogenic prints, and sold for more than ten times its low pre-sale estimate. The sale was noted by critics as a landmark moment in the convergence of traditional fine art photography markets and digital art, given that it occurred in the same auction context as works by canonical photographers such as Andreas Gursky and Cindy Sherman.