Andreas Gursky’s “Rhein II” sold for $4.3 million at Christie’s on Tuesday night, making it the world’s most expensive photograph. The previous record holder was Cindy Sherman’s “Untitled #96″, which sold for $3.89 million.
Rhein II is a photograph made by German visual artist Andreas Gursky in 1999. In 2011, a print was auctioned for $4.3 million (then £2.7m), making it the most expensive photograph ever sold.
The photograph was produced as the second (and largest) of a set of six depicting the River Rhine. In the image, the Rhine flows horizontally across the field of view, between green fields, under an overcast sky.
Extraneous details such as dog-walkers and a factory building were removed by the artist via digital editing. Justifying this manipulation of the image, Gursky said "Paradoxically, this view of the Rhine cannot be obtained in situ, a fictitious construction was required to provide an accurate image of a modern river."
( whatever that means. Typical pretentious art speak)
The print was originally acquired by the Galerie Monika Sprüth in Cologne, and subsequently bought by an anonymous German collector. The collector sold the print by auction at Christie's New York on 8 November 2011, who estimated it would fetch a price of $2.5-3.5m. It actually sold for $4,338,500
[via wiki]
Good article on what photographs are worth:
http://jmcolberg.com/weblog/extended/archives/how_much_are_photographs_worth_and_why_are_we_talking_about_it/
Rhein II is a photograph made by German visual artist Andreas Gursky in 1999. In 2011, a print was auctioned for $4.3 million (then £2.7m), making it the most expensive photograph ever sold.
The photograph was produced as the second (and largest) of a set of six depicting the River Rhine. In the image, the Rhine flows horizontally across the field of view, between green fields, under an overcast sky.
Extraneous details such as dog-walkers and a factory building were removed by the artist via digital editing. Justifying this manipulation of the image, Gursky said "Paradoxically, this view of the Rhine cannot be obtained in situ, a fictitious construction was required to provide an accurate image of a modern river."
( whatever that means. Typical pretentious art speak)
The print was originally acquired by the Galerie Monika Sprüth in Cologne, and subsequently bought by an anonymous German collector. The collector sold the print by auction at Christie's New York on 8 November 2011, who estimated it would fetch a price of $2.5-3.5m. It actually sold for $4,338,500
[via wiki]
Good article on what photographs are worth:
http://jmcolberg.com/weblog/extended/archives/how_much_are_photographs_worth_and_why_are_we_talking_about_it/
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