“Toys “R” Us” (1999) by Andreas Gursky
“99 cent” (1999). On May 10th, 2006, a print of this photograph (207 x 337cm) was auctioned at Sotheby’s for $2.26 million, making it the most expensive photograph of all times. In 2007, another version called ”99 cent II, Diptych” was auctioned for $3.3 million, making it the first photograph to surpass the $3 million mark.
Andreas Gursky (born on January 15th, 1955 in Leipzig, Germany) is one of the most respected contemporary Photographers and famous for his extremely large format photographs. Gursky studied Visual Communication in Essen before joining the famous Becher School lead by Hilla and Bernd Becher at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, where he graduated in 1987. Since the mid 1990s, Gursky digitally manipulates his photographs, the finished image is often a composition of many shots of the same scene. His work has been exhibited worldwide, the catalog of a 2001 retrospective at New York’s MoMA described his work as “a sophisticated art of unembellished observation. It is thanks to the artfulness of Gursky’s fictions that we recognize his world as our own.”
“Paris, Montparnasse” (1993) 205 x 421 cm
Scenes from a recent exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Basel, a very comprehensive show about Andreas Gursky’s work
