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.
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.
| 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 | Nov 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 | Richard Prince | Spiritual America (1981) | $3,973,000 | May 12, 2014 | Christie's New York [4] |
| 5 | Cindy Sherman | Untitled #96 (1981) | $3,890,500 | May 11, 2011 | Christie's New York [5] |
| 6 | Cindy Sherman | Untitled #93 (1981) | $3,861,000 | May 14, 2014 | Sotheby's New York [6] |
| 7 | Justin Aversano | Twin Flames #49 NFT (2021) | $3,781,159 | November 23, 2021 | Party Bid [7] [8] |
| 8 | Gilbert & George | To Her Majesty (1973) | $3,765,276 | June 30, 2008 | Christie's London [9] |
| 9 | Richard Prince | Untitled (Cowboy) (1998) | $3,749,000 | May 12, 2014 | Christie's New York [10] |
| 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 [11] |
| 11 | Richard Prince | Untitled (Cowboy) (2000) | $3,525,000 | May 10, 2016 | Christie's New York [12] |
| 12 | Richard Prince | Untitled (Cowboy) (2001-2002) | $3,401,000 | November 14, 2007 | Sotheby's New York [13] |
| 13 | Andreas Gursky | 99 Cent II Diptychon (2001) | $3,346,456 | February 2007 | Sotheby's London [14] |
| 14 | Andreas Gursky | Chicago Board of Trade III (1999-2009) | $3,298,755 | June 26, 2013 | Sotheby's London [15] |
| 15 | Man Ray | Noire et Blanche (1926) | $3,131,533 | Nov 8, 2017 | Christie's Paris [16] |
| 16 | Richard Prince | Untitled (Cowboy) (2000) | $3,077,000 | May 14, 2014 | Sotheby's New York [17] |
| 17 | Richard Prince | Untitled (Cowboy) (1997) | $3,030,000 | November 9, 2021 | Christie's New York [18] |
| 18 | Cindy Sherman | Untitled Film Still #48 (1979) | $2,965,000 | May 13, 2015 | Christie's New York [19] |
| 19 | Edward Steichen | The Pond—Moonlight (1904) | $2,928,000 | February 2006 | Sotheby's New York [20] [21] |
| 20 | Andreas Gursky | Los Angeles (1998) | $2,900,000 | February 27, 2008 | Sotheby's London [22] |
| 21 | Cindy Sherman | Untitled #96 (1981) | $2,882,500 | May 8, 2012 | Christie's New York [23] |
| 22 | Richard Prince | Untitled (Cowboy) (2000) | $2,840,000 | May 16, 2007 | Christie's New York [24] |
| 23 | Cindy Sherman | Untitled #153 (1985) | $2,770,500 | November 8, 2010 | Phillips de Pury & Co. New York [25] |
| 24 | Andreas Gursky | Chicago Board of Trade (1997) | $2,507,755 | June 23, 2013 | Sotheby's London [26] |
| 25 | Andreas Gursky | 99 Cent II Diptychon (2001) | $2,480,000 | November 16, 2006 | Phillips de Pury & Co. New York [27] |
| 26 | Andreas Gursky | Paris, Montparnasse (1993) | $2,416,475 | October 17, 2013 | Sotheby's London [28] |
| 27 | unknown | Billy the Kid (1879–80) tintype portrait | $2,300,000 | June 2011 | Brian Lebel's Old West Show & Auction [29] |
| 28 | Andreas Gursky | 99 Cent (1999) | $2,256,000 | May 6, 2006 | Sotheby's New York [30] |
| 29 | Andreas Gursky | 99 Cent II Diptychon (2001) | $2,250,000 | May 2006 | Sotheby's London [31] |
| 30 | Cindy Sherman | Untitled Film Still #48 (1979) | $2,225,000 | November 11, 2014 | Sotheby's New York [32] |
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Amsterdam, Geneva, Shanghai, and Dubai. It is owned by Groupe Artémis, the holding company of François Pinault. In 2022 Christie's sold US$8.4 billion in art and luxury goods, an all-time high for any auction house. On 15 November 2017, the Salvator Mundi was sold at Christie's in New York for $450 million to Saudi Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan al-Saud, the highest price ever paid for a painting.
Sotheby's is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and maintains a significant presence in the UK.
Richard Prince is an American painter and photographer. In the mid-1970s, Prince made drawings and painterly collages that he has since disowned. His image, Untitled (Cowboy), a photographic reproduction of a photograph by Sam Abell and appropriated from a cigarette advertisement, was the first rephotograph to be sold for more than $1 million at auction at Christie's New York in 2005. He is regarded as "one of the most revered artists of his generation" according to The New York Times.
Andreas Gursky is a German photographer and professor at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Germany.
Peter Lik is an Australian photographer best known for his nature and panoramic landscape images. He hosted From the Edge with Peter Lik, which aired for one season on The Weather Channel.
99 Cent II Diptychon is a two-part colour photograph made by Andreas Gursky in 2001. It was based on an original photograph called 99 Cent, from 1999, sometimes called "99 cent.1999".
Rhein II is a colour photograph made by German visual artist Andreas Gursky in 1999. In the image, a river flows horizontally across the field of view, between flat green fields, under an overcast sky. Extraneous details such as dog walkers and a factory building were removed by the artist using digital editing.
Untitled #96 is a color photograph made by American visual artist Cindy Sherman in 1981. It is known as part of her Centerfold series of 12 pictures. On 11 May 2011, a print was auctioned for US$3.89 million, the highest price paid for a photographic print at that time, though the price has since been surpassed. Another print was sold by $2,882,500 at Christie's New York, at 8 May 2012.
Untitled #153 is a color photograph made by American visual artist Cindy Sherman in 1985. In 2010, a print was auctioned for $2.7 million, making it one of the most expensive photographs ever sold at that time.
Untitled is a painting created by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1982. The artwork, which depicts a skull, is among the most expensive paintings ever. In May 2017, it sold for $110.5 million at Sotheby's, the highest price ever paid at auction for artwork by an American artist in a public sale. That record was surpassed by Shot Marilyns by Andy Warhol, which sold for $195 million in May 2022.
Paris, Montparnasse is a colour photograph created by German photographer Andreas Gursky in 1993. The large photograph has the overall dimensions of 210 by 395 cm, and had a five copies edition.
Rhein, also known as Rhein I, is a colour photograph created by the German photographer Andreas Gursky in 1996. The photograph had a six copies edition. This was the first version of a photograph that become better known with his second version, Rhein II, in 1999.
Untitled Film Still #48 is a black and white photograph taken by Cindy Sherman in 1979. It is part of her Untitled Film Stills photographic series, taken from 1977 to 1980. This picture is also known as The Hitchhiker.
Untitled #93 is a color photograph created by Cindy Sherman in 1981. It is part of her Centerfolds series of 12 photographs made for the Artforum magazine. They were never published there but went to be exhibited publicly the same year, to critical acclaim.
In This Case is a 1983 painting created by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1983. The artwork, which depicts a skull, is among the most expensive paintings ever purchased. In May 2021, it sold for $93.1 million at Christie's New York, the second highest auction record by Basquiat.
Pyongyang IV is a colour photograph created by German photographer Andreas Gursky in 2007. It is part of the series Pyongyang, consisting of seven photographs, digitally executed after his presence at the Arirang Mass Games, that used to be held every year at the Rungrado May Day Stadium, in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, in tribute to the late Communist ruler Kim Il Sung.
99 Cent is a colour photograph by German photographer Andreas Gursky, created in 1999. It depicts a view of the interior of a 99 cent store in Los Angeles. It was created with the use of digital manipulation, like the artist has done for his work since 1990. The photograph was included in Time magazine's 1999 list of the 100 most important photographs ever taken. Gursky made a new version of this photograph, 99 Cent II Diptychon, in 2001, which would be one of the most expensive ever sold.
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