Sold at auction for nearly 12 million euros, the photo taken by Man Ray in 1924 broke all records.
For 12.4 million dollars (about 11.9 million euros) the famous “Violon d’Ingres” by Man Ray marked the history of the art market a few days ago. It is indeed at this amount that the famous photograph was sold at auction this Saturday, becoming the most expensive shot in the world.
The work had been estimated at seven million dollars, but two bidders fought on the phone for 10 minutes before the auctioneer’s gavel and drove up the value of the photograph, says Knowledge of the arts.
“Iconic of the 20th century”
Made in 1924, the Violin of Ingres is considered Man Ray’s most famous photograph. “It’s one of the most iconic works of the 20th century,” said Darius Himes, international photography specialist at Christie’s, reports CNN.
“The scope and influence of this romantic, mysterious, mischievous and playful image has captured everyone’s mind for nearly 100 years. As a work of photography, it is unparalleled in the marketplace” , he summarized before the start of the auction.
The previous auction record for a photograph was set in 2011 with the mysterious landscape Rhine II (1999) by Andreas Gursky, sold at Christie’s for 4.3 million dollars (4.1 million euros).