Friday, March 16, 2007

The Pond-Moonlight

This rare print taken by US photography pioneer Edward Steichen has set a world record for the highest price paid for a photograph auction.

Edward Steichen, The Pond-Moonlight - New York in 1904

Part of the reason for its value and rarity is that it is a very early example of colour photography, produced using the autochrome process. Contributing to its high price is that there are only three known copies in existence; there are two in museum collections in addition to the print sold at auction in 2006.

4 comments:

Diane Dehler said...

It's always curious, why a particular work of art is valued over another.

Moon River said...

well, it's has the MOON in it :)

Diane Dehler said...

That value cannot be denied. :)

Anonymous said...

Just thought you should know that the print by Steichen is not really from an autochrome. Steichen made this print in 1904. The autochrome wasn't commercially available til 1907. Steichen happened to be in Paris in 1907 when it was introduced and it's known that Steichen had never previously seen an autochrome till that point.
Also, the photograph is no longer the most expensive photograph sold in auction.

"Let the record note: One of Andreas Gursky's "99 Cent" diptychs now holds the title as most expensive photographic work sold at auction.

A buyer bid £1.7 million, or about $3.34 million, for "99 Cent II," two enormous prints showing the cluttered interior of a discount store."

None of this is meant to take away from Steichen's photograph which is gorgeous.