15 Of The Most Expensive Pictures In The World
The most expensive photos always evoke curiosity and surprise. Some of them need to look in the galleries, the popularity of other completely inexplicable. What makes buyers pay such amounts for the pictures? See for yourself.
Today, we suggest you to take a look at the 15 most expensive photographs of all time.
1. Peter Lik - "Phantom" (2014)
Black-and-white photo titled "Phantom" bought for $ 6.5 million. The same private collector who preferred to remain anonymous, on the same day has purchased two more shots - "Eternal mood" and "Illusion." The total amount was $ 10 million.
"The purpose of my photos - capture the power of nature", - says Leake. "Phantom" - black-and-white version of a photo titled "The Ghost." On it was captured Antelope Canyon (Arizona), and "ghost" - a ray of light swirling in the dust.
2. Andreas Gursky - "Rein II" (1999)
Andreas Gursky, a photographer from Germany, is known for its large-format photographs of architecture and landscapes. In 1999 he made a series of six photos of the Rhine, the largest and most famous of which was the "Rhine II». "For me, it is an allegory of the meaning of life," - says the author. To achieve the impression of the desert landscape, he had on the computer to remove some items from the picture: factory building, pedestrians, cyclists.
Chromogenic print on acrylic glass size 1,9 × 3,6 m (in the frame, which increased the size of the artifact to 2,1 × 3,8 m) was sold in 2011 at an auction, "Christie" for $ 4.3 million, the buyer's identity unknown.
3. Cindy Sherman - "Untitled № 96" (1981)
Famous for his provocative works of Cindy Sherman self-portraits are very popular among collectors. The names of your images, it does not give, giving viewers the opportunity to think out themselves depicted the story. «№ 96" - one of the 12 photo Centerfold series, made by order ArtForum magazine. The heroine of the picture (of course, the very Sherman) - teenager. She holds a cut out of newspaper ads about dating, symbolizing readiness to leave childhood behind and the desire to find her man.
At the time, "number 96", sold at auction "Christie" for $ 3.9 million, was the most expensive photograph in the world.
4. Jeff Wall - "Dead Troops Talk" (1946)
The subtitle explains the story depicted in the photograph - "Vision after the ambush, which was the Soviet army patrol near Mokoro, Afghanistan, Winter 1986". However, this is not a picture from nature: Canadian photographer Jeff Wall (whose Andreas Gursky called his role model) was not in Afghanistan. The photography was taken in the studio, the people in it - the actors. " Dead Troops Talk "- it does not comment on the Afghan war - says the author. - I just wanted to create an image in which the dead soldiers talk to each other; I have no idea why. "
In 2012, "Christie's" picture was sold for $ 3.6 million.
5. Andreas Gursky - "99 Cent II Diptychon" (2001)
Two photos that make up the diptych, depict the interior of one of the shops, where everything is sold for 99 cents. Long rows, cluttered with colorful boxes with the goods, reflected in the glass ceiling, enhance the feeling of endless consumerism in the modern society.
The print size of 2,07 × 3,37 meters was sold for $ 3.3 million in 2007.
6. Edward Steichen - "Lake in the moonlight" (1904)
Photo taken in 1904, shows the lake and the forest through the trees, which makes the way the moonlight. At the beginning of the XX century were color photographs of exceptional rarity, and the "lake in the moonlight," the author dyed manually using autochrome method (on tape applied granules of potato starch filled with paint of different colors). To date, there are only three options for the image. They all have their own range of colors, since each frame was painted separately.
In 2006 one of them was sold at auction, "Sotheby's" for $ 2.9 million.
7. Cindy Sherman - "Untitled № 96" (1985)
As admitted herself Cindy Sherman, her main fear - die a horrible death, and such pictures as number 153 - attempt to reconcile with him, to prepare for the unthinkable. "Do not be afraid and avert their eyes - she says about your picture - it's not real, it's setting, a fairy tale."
In 2010, almost two-meter grim picture was sold at auction for $ 2.7 million.
8. Unknown autor - "Billi Kid" (1879-1880)
Photo of the famous criminal, Billy Kid, taked at the end of the XIX century by tintype, was sold in 2011 to an American collector for $ 2.3 million. The reason for such a fabulous price no special artistic value of the picture, and in its uniqueness - it is the only officially confirmed by Photo Kid.
However, recently the auction house Kagin's, Inc. He declared genuine another photograph, which allegedly depicts Billy the Kid, playing croquet.
9. Dmitry Medvedev - "Kremlin Gets" (2009)
Photo "Tobolsk Kremlin Gate," Dmitry Medvedev made (at that time the President of the Russian Federation), was sold at a charity auction "Christmas Alphabet." Usually, it put up for the sale of paintings, written by well-known politicians. So, in 2009, Vladimir Putin, the authorship pattern brought the charity fund of 37 million rubles.
Dmitry Medvedev, due to the busy schedule to write a picture, offered as an alternative, a photo "Tobolsk Kremlin Gate," that was taken from a bird's flight. Snapshot bought for 51 million rubles.
10. Edward Weston - "Naked Body" (1925)
For the work of American photographer Edward Weston characterized by a very clear, sharp images, the pursuit of an object of shooting, in which everyone can see something of their own. "Naked Body" (one of the many pictures of Weston, which depict nude model) is no exception. Looking at her, you did not immediately understand what illustrated in the photo. Maybe this man, or maybe a sculpture or landscape element. The androgynous model form, further emphasizes the abstract beauty of the picture.
In 2008, at an auction, "Sotheby's" for the job paid $ 1.6 million.
11. Alfred Stieglitz - "Georgia O'Keeffe. Hands "(1919)
In the life of Alfred Stieglitz had two passions - photography and Georgia O'Keeffe. All 50 years of his career, he fought for the society began to take photography as art - with its own language, motifs and genres. The artist O'Keefe he fell for her work, yet even without seeing it herself; for her, he left the family. Georgia devoted more than 300 of his pictures; eight of the nine photos Stiglitz, put up for auction, it is portrayed.
Photo "Georgia O'Keeffe. Hands "was sold in 2006 for $ 1.4 million, becoming the most expensive work of the photographer.
12. Alfred Stieglitz - "Georgia O'Keeffe Nude" (1919)
Again, Alfred Stieglitz and his muse, artist Georgia O'Keeffe. One of a series of works dedicated to her naked body. At the auction, "Sotheby's" for black-and-white image is not the beauty of Georgia of $ 1.3 million was paid in 2006.
13. Richard Prince - "Cowboy" (1989)
Richard Prince start his interest for art, began then he worked in the Time Publishing, Inc., where his task was to cut from different articles of magazines, which were required by the poster. As a result, it remained only illustration and advertising, page after page of pictures alone. Despite its secondary, in 2005, "Cowboy" was sold for $ 1.1 million.
14. Richard Avedon - "Dovima and the elephants" (1955)
"His portraits have identified the image of American style, beauty and culture of the second half of the XX century" - so wrote about Richard Avedon. The heroine of his work - top model Dorothy Virginia Margaret Juba, better known as Dovima. In the pictures taken in the Winter Circus in Paris in 1955, Dovima dressed in a black dress with a huge belt. This outfit - the first evening dress designed for Christian Dior his new assistant, Yves Saint-Laurent.
In 2010, the picture was sold at auction "Christie" for $ 1.15 million.
15. Peter Lik - "Eternal Mood" (2014)
As well as the "Phantom" - black and white version of "Ghost" and "Eternal mood" - black and white version of "Eternal Beauty". The inspiration and a place to create an unusual frame again served Antelope Canyon in Arizona.
More than 1.1 million dollars for a picture paid the same private collector, who bought and "Phantom."
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