The Photographs market has never been more diverse or exciting, and the international Photographs department at Christie’s is leading the way. In recent years we have broken many artist’s records including, notably, Richard Avedon’s with the sale of Dovima with Elephants, Evening Dress by Dior, Cirque d'Hiver, Paris, 1955 for 1.8M USD in 2020, and Lewis Hine’s Mechanic and Steam Pump, 1921, for $275,000 in 2021. We’ve also paved the way with Photographic NFTs, selling a work from Justin Aversano’s Twin Flames project for $1.1 USD in 2021. Christie’s Photographs also broke the long-standing record for most expensive classic photograph ever sold at auction with Man Ray’s Noire et Blanche selling in Paris for 3.1M USD in 2017.
Our track record with collection sales is unmatched in recent years evidenced by our handling of prestigious institutional sales including property from The Museum of Modern Art offered through our innovative online platform, three auctions of Ansel Adams photographs sold in association with the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona, Tucson, and a small deaccession of Civil War photographs from The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2021.
The sales team at Christie’s has set world auction records for some of the most important artists of the 20th century including Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon, Robert Frank, Man Ray, William Eggleston, Robert Mapplethorpe, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Eugène Atget, Irving Penn and Richard Misrach. As the market leader, we are committed to sourcing and selling the finest works of art with exceptional provenance to both private collectors and institutions, whether at auction or privately. Our connections to curators and institutions globally, as well as the world’s top collectors, is incomparable.