The international Photographs department at Christie’s leads the market with outstanding collections, record-breaking sales results, and important private sales transactions. Over 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. Christie’s Photographs team 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 auction series including property from The Museum of Modern Art offered through our innovative online platform, as well as three auctions of Ansel Adams photographs sold in association with Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona, Tucson. Other recent collection sales handled by the department include The Unseen Eye: Photographs from the W.M. Hunt Collection; Face of the Century: Photographs from a Private Collection; Daydreaming: Photographs from the Goldstein Collection; The Yamakawa Collection of Twentieth Century Photographs; An American Journey: The Diann G. and Thomas A. Mann Collection of Photographic Masterworks, property from The Museum of Modern Art; Visionaries: Photographs from the Emily and Jerry Spiegel Collection; Portrait of a Collector: The John M. Bransten Collection of Photographs; Modern Visions: Exceptional Photographs; Stripped Bare: Photographs from the Collection of Thomas Koerfer; Collection Shalom Shpilman vendue au profit du Shpilman Institute for Photography and Important Photographs from the Collection of Donald and Alice Lappé, among others.
The sales team at Christie’s, the most senior in the industry, has sold the most high-value works and set world auction records for some of the most important artist 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.
Please do not hesitate to contact us for a free and confidential valuation or to discuss buying and selling with Christie’s.