THE contemporary

The contemporary art market
Focus on the Art photography market
The market first emerged somewhat timidly in the
1970s with small-format historical black and whites.
In 1971, the American auctioneer Sotheby’s launched
the first Photography Department at an international
level. However, it took another 20 years for the Art
Photography market to really establish itself. During
the 1990s, public attitudes towards photography began
to change and in 1997 Paris Photo became the
first art fair dedicated exclusively to photography. It
was also the era of the first large-formats, particularly
those produced by the Düsseldorf School. Henceforward,
the art market began to include Contemporary
Photography as a legitimate artistic discipline, and the
production of limited and numbered editions helped
to reassure collectors. Today, faced with an exceptionally
abundant offer, buyers are extremely demanding
(nearly two thirds of the lots offered remain unsold)
and photography has succeeded in penetrating
the top bracket of the art market.
92 results above the million-dollar threshold
Since 2005, when photography generated its first
7-digit auction results 1 , 91 other photos have crossed
this threshold 2 , all periods combined. The main beneficiaries
of these high-end prices are Contemporary
photographs (87% of the million-plus results) ahead
of Historical and Modern photographs. The vitality of
1) First a portfolio (The North American Indian) by Edward
Curtis (born 1868), then a Cow-boy by Richard Prince.
2) The last decade has seen 77 photographs cross the
million-dollar line (all periods) and 92 including fees
the Contemporary art market as a whole is fuelling a
rapidly growing photography segment.
10 Contemporaries over the million-dollar line
Only ten Contemporary artists (or duos) have crossed
the million-dollar line: Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman, Andreas
Gursky, Richard Prince, Gilbert & George, Jeff
Wall, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Mike Kelley, Thomas Struth
and Piotr Uklanski. Half of them are American.
$9.4 million – the all-time record
The best auction price ever paid for a photograph.
Only an icon of Contemporary art could generate
such a spectacular 3 result... Jeff Koons, and the photograph
was a self-portrait.
$6.7 million – last year’s record
The highest bid over the 2014/2015 period rewarded
a Cindy Sherman portfolio containing 21 silver prints
of the famous Untitled Film Still (1977) series. The portfolio
elicited vigorous bidding and was finally hammered
at $6.7 million on 12 November 2014 at Christie’s in
New York, a new record for the American artist.
$1.8 million: Thomas Struth’s Panthéon
Thomas Struth has recently joined the 7-digit club
after his Panthéon, Rome 4 set a new personal auction
record at $1.8 million in May 2015. Two years ago the
same work fetched $547,000 less 5 .
3) The New Jeff Koons fetched $9.4 million including fees
on 14 May 2013 at Sotheby’s New York.
4) Edition 5/10, Sotheby’s New York.
5) $1.26 million, including fees, Sotheby’s London, 26
June 2013.
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