10 most expensive pictures in the world

Sometimes photographers amaze us with their art, the ability to uniquely reflect the world around us and get a look at it from a different angle. And sometimes doing something totally disgusting and generally so that it is impossible to understand why the work is recognized as a masterpiece. Anyway, these pictures have been sold for millions of dollars.

1. Rhein II (1999)

The author - Andreas Gursky

Price - $ 4,338,500

Andreas Gursky - the famous German photographer, to his credit a lot of photos, then sold for a fabulous price. In 1999, he took a photo of the "Rhein II", which shows the river Rhine between the two dams under the magnificent cloudy sky. Total Gursky has created six images of the Rhine, and the "Rhein II" - the largest photograph in the series.

The most amazing thing in photography is that it was made using "Photoshop": original background "spoiled" power plant, port facilities and a passerby walking their dogs - all Gursky removed, leaving only the actual Rhine and dams.

Gursky said his actions thus: "Paradoxically, this view of the Rhine could not be obtained on the spot, refinement was needed to provide an accurate image of the current of the river."

Revised photographer printed photo size 185, 4 * 363, 5 cm, mounted it on the acrylic glass and placed in the frame. The picture was sold at auction "Christie's" in New York for $ 4,338,500 in 2011, the year - the buyer was the gallery Monica Shpryut in Cologne and subsequently resold photo unknown collector.

2. Untitled # 96 (1981)

Author - Cindy Sherman

Price - $ 3,890,500 American photo artist Cindy Sherman works in the technique of production photos. Her work is widely known among the people of art, and it is ranked seventh in the list of "the hundred most influential people in the art world 2011" by the "ArtReview". Sherman she calls herself an artist, performance artist, and categorically refuses to recognize himself a photographer.

One of the most famous and expensive of her work - picture # 96, made in 1981: the picture shows a girl, freckled, with red hair and a bright orange dress, lying on his back and gazing into the distance. According to Sherman, the photo bears a deep meaning - a teenage girl, both seductive and innocent, holding a piece of newspaper advertisement Me, which means that as long as immature female essence looking for a way to break out.

The picture was bought at auction "Christie's" in 2011 by an unknown collector.

3. Her Majesty, a collage of pictures (1973)

Authors - Gilbert and George Passmore Prosh

Price - $ 3,765,276

British artists Gilbert and George Passmore Prosh work in the genre of performance photography. World fame brought them to work, where they served as living sculptures.

Their collage of photos taken back in 1973, was sold for big bucks at auction in 2008: on the black-and-white photographs show men in expensive suits in combination with the interior. The buyer is unknown.

4. "They say the dead soldiers" (1992)

Author - Jeff Wall

Price - $ 3,666,500

Canadian photographer Jeff Wall is known for his large-format photographs, "business card" of the artist is he developed printing technique images on a transparent basis. His most famous work, "said the dead soldiers" was created under the influence of the war in Afghanistan. Despite the realism of this staged photography: all the people in the picture - the invited actors. When you work on it Wall used makeup and costumes, and the picture was taken in a photo studio and later processed by a computer.

Resulting image size of 229 * 417 cm was printed on a transparent basis, and placed in a plastic box.

5. Untitled (Cowboy) (2001-2002)

The author - Richard Prince

Price - $ 3.401 million

Richard Prince is one of the most famous American artists of his generation. The main themes of his work - stylized period of the so-called "American Antiquity" and the modern world of consumption. World fame brought him three photos, which included and "Cowboy".

Picture was created specifically for the campaign "Marlboro": cowboy picture, according to the artist appears not like a typical standard American courage, sung in Westerns, but as a sex symbol illusory, unattainable ideal of a real man.

The painting was sold at "Christie's" auction in 2007, the year.

6. 99 cents II, diptih (2001)

The author - Andreas Gursky

Price - $ 3,346,456

The above snapshot "Rhine II" - not only photo-millionnik Gursky: his work of two photos "99 cents II" was sold for a lesser amount, but still brought the creator of several million dollars.

In the photos depicted a supermarket where the consumer goods exhibited. In general, two images are strikingly similar and differ only in the angles. Of course, Gursky has resorted to computer processing to shots failed to unnecessary details - buyers, low hanging lights and wires. Photograph acquired in 2007 by Ukrainian businessman Viktor Pinchuk. The high cost of images is due, primarily, the author's name, the time of sale priobrotshemu already huge popularity.

7. Los Angeles (1998)

The author - Andreas Gursky

Price - $ 2,941,755

More in a single shot Gursky depicts a night scene in Los Angeles - a city with a bird's-eye view looks like a distant field of artificial lights. Photo symbolizes the modern world and place it in person. According to the artist, and the man is the protagonist of this photo: everyone lives in the vast world of general globalization, which takes the place of just one of the millions of inhabitants of the same.

8. Lake in the moonlight (1904)

Author - Edward Steichen

Price - $ 2.928 million

Impressionist painter Edward Steichen worked in the first half of XX-th century: he created a series of portraits of famous Hollywood celebrities, and later engaged in documentaries, for which he received several "Oscars".

His most famous photowork - "Lake in the moonlight" - autochrome Photo: originally a former black-and-white image, "Lake" has become the color through the use of light-sensitive Stayhenom jelly. No one before him did not use this technology, so that the image can be considered as the first color photograph in the world.

In 2006, the "Lake in the moonlight" was sold at auction, "Sotheby's" for a lot of money. Price can be considered reasonable - shot more than a century, and it is an excellent illustration of preserved history of photography.

9. Untitled # 153 (1985)

Author - Cindy Sherman

Price - $ 2,770,500 Another example of creativity Cindy Sherman - photo Untitled # 153. It shows a dead woman with a muddy bluish-gray hair: glazed eyes looking at the sky, his mouth half open, and can be seen on the cheek bruise. Photo leaves a terrible feeling, but, nevertheless, it was sold at auction for a seven-figure sum.

10. Billy the Kid (1879-80)

Author - Unknown

Price - $ 2.3 million

Billy the Kid was an American criminal, convicted of the murder of 21-th person. The governor of one of the Wild West States appointed a reward for his capture, and kill the Kid Sheriff Pat Garrett, who wrote a biography of then thug.

The uniqueness of this image is that it is - a single image of Billy the Kid, the other photos do not exist. It was sold in 2011, at the 22nd annual auction "Brian Lebel's Old West Show & Auction" in Denver. Collector William Koch bought it for more than $ 2 million, although initially the organizers did not expect to get a snapshot of more than $ 400 thousand.

The authorship is attributed to a Friend Kid Dan Dedrick, however, to ascertain exactly who took the picture, it is already impossible. Ambrotype photo made by using the metal plate, and the image is specularly reflected thereon.