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 ArtistWork Price DateSeller/Auction 1 Man Ray Le Violon d'Ingres (1924) $12,400,000 Christie's New York Man Ray’s Famed Photograph of Kiki de Montparnasse Sells for Record $12.4 M. 2 Edward Steichen The Flatiron (1904) $11,800,000 Christie's New York Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s art collection smashes record with $1.6 billion auction. 3 Andreas Gursky Rhein II (1999) $4,338,500 Christie's New YorkThe Most Expensive Photo in the World. theatlanticwire.com (November 9, 2011). Retrieved on 2011-11-10. 4 Man Ray Noire et Blanche (1926) $4,020,000 Christie's New York 5 Richard Prince Spiritual America (1983) $3,973,000 Christie's New York 6 Cindy Sherman Untitled #96 (1981) $3,890,500 Christie's New YorkCindy Sherman Print Sells For $3.9 Million At Auction, The Highest Ever For A Photograph. Popphoto.com (May 12, 2011). Retrieved on 2011-08-01. 7 Cindy Sherman Untitled #93 (1981) $3,861,000 Sotheby's New York 8 Gilbert & George To Her Majesty (1973) $3,765,276 Christie's London 9 Richard Prince Untitled (Cowboy) (1998) $3,749,000 Christie's New York 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 Christie's New York . theglobeandmail.com (May 8, 2012). Retrieved on 2012-05-09. 11 Richard Prince Untitled (Cowboy) (2000) $3,525,000 Christie's New York 12 Richard Prince Untitled (Cowboy) (2001-2002) $3,401,000 Sotheby's New York 13 Andreas Gursky 99 Cent II Diptychon (2001) $3,346,456 Sotheby's LondonThe First $3M Photograph. Web.archive.org (March 18, 2007). Retrieved on 2011-08-01. 14 Andreas Gursky Chicago Board of Trade III (1999-2009) $3,298,755 Sotheby's London 15 Cindy Sherman Untitled #93 (1981) $3,150,000 Christie’s New York 16 Man Ray Noire et Blanche (1926) $3,131,533 Christie's Paris 17 Richard Prince Untitled (Cowboy) (2000) $3,077,000 Sotheby's New York 18 Richard Prince Untitled (Cowboy) (1997) $3,030,000 Christie's New York 19 Cindy Sherman Untitled Film Still #48 (1979) $2,965,000 Christie's New York 20 Edward Steichen The Pond—Moonlight (1904) $2,928,000 Sotheby's New YorkPhotograph sale breaks world record. Web.archive.org (February 26, 2009). Retrieved on 2011-08-01. 21 Andreas Gursky Los Angeles (1998) $2,900,000 Sotheby's London 22 Cindy Sherman Untitled #96 (1981) $2,882,500 Christie's New York 23 Man Ray Noire et Blanche (1926) $2,878,148 Sotheby's London 24 Richard Prince Untitled (Fashion) (1982) $2,853,000 Christie's New York 25 Richard Prince Untitled (Cowboy) (2000) $2,840,000 Christie's New York 26 Cindy Sherman Untitled #153 (1985) $2,770,500 Phillips de Pury & Co. New York 27 Richard Prince Untitled (Cowboy) (1997) $2,600,280 Christie's London 28 Andreas Gursky Chicago Board of Trade (1997) $2,507,755 Sotheby's London 29 Andreas Gursky 99 Cent II Diptychon (2001) $2,480,000 Phillips de Pury & Co. New York 30 Andreas Gursky Paris, Montparnasse (1993) $2,416,475 Sotheby's London
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. Lik's claim has been greeted with much scepticism. Claims of the sale have never been proven, and the buyer has not come forward, though a lawyer claiming to represent the buyer claims that the deal was real.
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. 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.
See also List of photographs considered the most important List of most expensive paintings List of most expensive sculptures List of most expensive artworks by living artists List of most expensive books and manuscripts List of most expensive non-fungible tokens
References
External links Artnet top ten most expensive photographs, April 2003 The two most expensive Stieglitz photos, 2006, click thumbnails to enlarge