Fine Art

Meet the Record-Breaking $12.4 Million Photo Auction (Man Ray)

The art world isn’t seeming to be too concerned about inflation nor about a slowing economy in 2022. New records keep being seen for prized pieces of art. After a record-smashing Andy Warhol piece commanded $195 million, now a Man Ray photo titled Le Violon d’Ingres from 1924 sold for a record-breaking $12.4125 million.

A Christie’s auction at $12.4 million was for a black and white image measuring 19 X 13 3/4 inches (image below by Christie’s) and the image had been signed and dated in ink ‘Man Ray 1924’ in the lower right corner. It had also been stamped in red ink with ‘ORIGINAL’ on the reverse of the flush mount. According to the Christie’s description, the provenance indicated that the photo had been acquired from the artist by the late owners in 1962.

Another boost was that this particular Man Ray photo has been exhibited all over the world — Paris, New York, Houston, Rotterdam, London, Washington D.C., and Miami. It has also appeared in many books featuring Man Ray photos. The Man Ray that broke the record is of a nude Kiki de Montparnasse, with a violin’s f-holes mid-way up her back.

Man Ray Le Violon d’Ingres

The auction The Surrealist World of Rosalind Gersten Jacobs and Melvin Jacobs closed on May 14, 2022 and the $12.4+ million price was more than double that of the mid-point estimated range of $5 million to $7 million. That total auction brought in more than $42.3 million for the 76 lots up for grabs.

The prior record for a modern and surrealistic photo was for a 1999 photo taken by Andreas Gursky that sold in a 2011 Christie’s auction — for “just” $4.3 million.

Another month and another record-breaking price.

Categories: Fine Art

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