T his April, Sotheby’s Photographs department marks its Golden Jubilee with a tightly-curated auction showcasing fifty iconic images by the medium’s most influential artists. The two-part sale in New York and London encompasses nearly 200 years of global photographic history, including superb examples by 19th century practitioners such as William Henry Fox Talbot, Carleton Watkins, Gustave Le Gray, and Peter Henry Emerson; prints by pioneering women artists Anne Brigman, Imogen Cunningham, and Lee Miller; modernist works by František Drtikol, Erwin Blumenfeld, and Edward Weston; exceptional post-war images by Robert Frank, Roy DeCarava, and Lee Friedlander; fashion photographs by Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, and Peter Lindbergh; and contemporary masterworks by Sebastião Salgado, Richard Misrach, Nobuyoshi Araki, and Chris Levine, among many others. Each of the fifty photographs demonstrates – in its own way and for its own time period – a significant achievement in the history of the medium.
Auction Catalogues
Auction Highlights | London
Exhibition Dates
| New York | London |
Open by appointment Thursday, 15 April, 10 am to 5 pm | Open by appointment Friday 16 April, 10 am to 5 pm |
A Timeline of Sotheby's Photographs
- 1967
- 1971
- 1975
- 1982
- 1995
- 1999
- 2002
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
- 2008
- 2010
- 2012
- 2013
- 2014
- 2015
- 2015
- 2017
- 2017
- 2018
- 2018
- 2019
- 2020
- 2020
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The Will Weissberg Collection of Rare Photographs, Cameras & Related DevicesSotheby's New York holds this landmark sale – noteworthy as the first Photographs auction at an international auction house. Highlights include eight Julia Margaret Cameron photographs. Her portrait of Charles Darwin (1868-69), seen at left, was originally in the Weissberg collection. -
British InvasionSotheby’s becomes the first international auction house to host regularly scheduled Photographs auctions in London.
William Henry Fox Talbot’s The Pencil of Nature (1846) hits the auction block. In 2018, this cornerstone of photographic history is resold for a record price of $275,000 in New York . -
Made in ManhattanSotheby’s becomes the first international auction house to hold regularly scheduled Photographs auctions in New York. The most expensive lot—50 volumes of Alfred Stieglitz’s Camera Work – sells for $24,000 on 25 February. -
Italian Futurist Photographs saleAnton Giulio Bragaglia and Arturo Bragaglia’s ‘Le Rose’ (1913) sells in New York on 9 November. This same print achieves a record price of $137,500 when it is re-offered in 2018. -
Man RayMay Ray’s Surrealist masterpiece Minotaur (1933) is offered in London. In 2018, it returns to the auction block in New York. This work is now in the collection of The Museum of Modern Art (267.2018) -
Approaching the New Millennium1999 is a banner year for Sotheby’s Photographs. In New York, Charles Sheeler’s Ford Works (Criss-Crossed Conveyors, Ford Plant, Detroit) becomes the first photograph to exceed $500,000 at auction.
In London, Gustave Le Gray’s Grande vague - Séte establishes a new record for the artist in the first of three auctions of the collection of Marie-Thérèse and André Jammes. Another superb print by Le Gray, 'La Vague Brisée, Mer Méditeranée No 15' (The Breaking Wave) (1857) is a highlight of the 22 April sale in London. -
Collection de Marie-Thérèse and André JammesThe second and third auctions of the Jammes collection establish records for photographs by Nicéphore Niépce, Charles Nègre, and Edgar Degas, including his Portrait of Jules Taschereu, Degas and Jaches-Emile Blanche (1895). -
Dorothea LangeTying the world record for the most expensive 20th century photograph sold at auction, Dorothea Lange’s iconic ‘White Angel Bread Line’ (1933) sells for $822,400 in New York . -
Important Photographs from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Including Works from the Gilman Paper Company CollectionMarking the first time a classic photograph breaks the $1 million and $2 million marks at auction, Edward Steichen’s The Pond - Moonlight (1904) sells for an astounding $2,928,000 in this sale of work from the renowned Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. -
American Masters: From Edward Weston to Peter BeardEdward Weston’s Nautilus (1927) sores to $1,105,000, a new record for the artist at auction. This same print had previously sold at Sotheby’s in 1989 for $115,000 – the first photograph to break the $100,000 mark.
Peter Beard’s ‘Hog Ranch Front Lawn, Night Feeder (2:00 am) with Maureen Gallagher & Mbuno, Feb. 1987’ achieves a new record for the artist when it hammers for $277,000. -
The Quillan Collection of Nineteenth and Twentieth Century PhotographsTotaling $8,901,350, this sale includes Lee Friedlander's poignant photograph Galax, Virginia (1962). This image is also featured in the New York sale closing on 21 April. -
Photographs from the Polaroid CollectionRobert Rauschenberg’s Japanese Sky I (from the Bleacher series) rockets to $240,000 in the legendary auction of the Polaroid Collection. Another work from this series is offered in the 21 April sale in New York. -
A Show of Hands: Photographs from the Collection of Henry BuhlHerbert Bayer’s unique photomontage Lonely Metropolitan (1932) sails beyond $1.4 million, contributing to a total sale value of $12.3 million. -
Irving PennSotheby’s Paris sets a new record for a dye transfer print by Irving Penn. ‘ Mouth (For L’Oreal), New York' (1986) sells for more than €289,000. -
175 Masterworks to Celebrate 175 Years of Photography: Property from the Joy of Giving Something FoundationA highlight of this landmark sale, Lee Miller’s Untitled (Iron Work) still holds the artist’s world record at auction – $377,000. Miller’s 1931 Nude is featured in the 21 April sale in New York. -
Robert Frank: The Americans – The Ruth and Jake Bloom CollectionFrank’s remarkable photograph ‘Charleston, S.C. ’ (1955) sells for more than twice its high estimate. The artist’s very personal, poetic image U.S. 90, En Route to Del Rio, Texas is included in the 21 April sale in New York.
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Bernd & Hilla BecherSotheby’s Paris establishes a new record for husband-and-wife duo Bernd & Hilla Becher, lassoing €411,000 for their monumental grid ‘Wasserturme (Trichter)' (1972).
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Chris LevineSotheby’s London establishes a new record for contemporary photographer Chris Levine , whose Lightness of Being, 2004 (2012) brings £187,500 in the 'Made in Britain' sale. Levine’s work is a highlight of the 22 April sale in London.
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From Generation to Generation: Important Photographs from the Ames Family CollectionInaugurating the annual autumn auction of contemporary photographs in New York, Thomas Struth’s Mailänder Dom (Fassade), Mailand (1998) proves to be a star attraction of the Ames Family Collection. -
Aleksandr RodchenkoGirl with a Leica (DEVUSHKA S LEIKOI) (circa 1932-34) commands $519,000 in New York. Sotheby’s continues to hold the world auction record for a photograph by Rodchenko. -
Richard AvedonAvedon’s portfolio of quintessential fashion images, Avedon/Paris (1978) leaps to an auction high of £237,000 . -
Francesca WoodmanSotheby’s achieves a record price for a photograph by Francesca Woodman when Polka Dots (1976) brings $200,000 – four times its low estimate. -
Digital EvolutionAs the art world shifts to the digital realm in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, László Moholy-Nagy’s photogram designed for the cover of Broom magazine (1922) becomes the most expensive photograph sold online at Sotheby's when bidding rises to $524,000.
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The David H. Arrington Collection of Ansel Adams MasterworksThis single-owner sale achieves $6.4 million and cements the new world auction record for an Ansel Adams photograph: The Grand Tetons and the Snake River, Grand Tetons National Park, Wyoming (1942) finds a new home for $988,000 .
