New record for art photography in Italy
With €486,000, the Finarte auction on October 16, 2025, set a new all-time record for fine art photography in Italy. The 162 lots sold out of 265 (93% of the total reserve value reached) achieved the best result ever for a fine art photography auction in Italy, as well as for Finarte. This achievement confirms the auction house’s leadership position in the collectible photography sector, as well as the department’s continued growth.
Oliviero Toscani
The auction’s outcome reflects a genuine and growing interest in fine art photography among both Italian and international collectors. The numerous sales above estimate testify to the quality of the selection, which attracts attention across both classic and contemporary artists. “We are very pleased with the results achieved, especially at a challenging time for the market. There were excellent results for Italian artists, including some notable records, and interesting results for international artists who rarely appear in our country. Finally, we are very pleased with the first section dedicated to women (both photographers and portraits), a sign that the results also reflect the curatorial approach, which is very important to us,” commented Davide Battaglia, head of the department, at the closing of the auction.
Lisetta Carmi, Berenice Abbott, Man Ray, Shirin Neshat, Francesca Woodman
Among the most notable results was the lively participation of works by artists such as Lisetta Carmi, with her series I travestiti, in which lot 2 was sold for €5,805, setting an all-time record for the Genoese photographer.
Lisetta Carmi
There was also strong interest in Berenice Abbott’s historic photograph, Fulton Street Fish Market, New York, which sold for €5,160 against a starting price of €2,600.
Berenice Abbott
Man Ray received considerable attention, with excellent results for three consecutive lots: Femme (lots 20 and 21), sold for 2,064 and 2,193 euros respectively, and Patti Birch, 1948, sold for 4,902 euros.
Man Ray
The market also rewarded contemporary photography: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’s Tera Patrick fetched €7,710, while Shirin Neshat’s The Home of My Eyes sold for €12,120 (opening photo).
Francesca Woodman’s works were particularly popular, with two hammer prices of €10,860 and €14,010, the latter for a rare postcard invitation from the 1981 exhibition, Immagini.
All photos courtesy of Finarte
Brassaï, Anton Corbijn, Martin Parr, Mimmo Jodice and Gabriele Basilico
Excellent results were also achieved by P. J. Harvey, London, 1994 by Anton Corbijn, which sold for €7,080, and by Brassaï with La Seine au Pont des Arts, which started at €2,200 and reached €7,710.
Anton Corbijn
Martin Parr’s New York finally settled at £5,160. For Martin Parr, Greenfield-Sanders and Brassaï, this is the highest result ever achieved on the Italian market.
Some of the top lots of the auction also stand out, such as Bologna, Studio di Giorgio Morandi by Luigi Ghirri, sold for €15,000, and Io non ho mani che mi accarezzino il volto by Mario Giacomelli, sold for €19,050, a world record for the master from the Marche region.
Luigi Ghirri
Mimmo Jodice and Gabriele Basilico performed excellently, with all their lots in the catalogue being sold. The former’s Vedute di Napoli, Museo Nazionale (Views of Naples, National Museum) went for €6,450, while the latter’s Beirut (Rue Dakar) sold for €8,970.
Mimmo Jodice
Contemporary photographers also recorded significant sales: Andreas Gursky with La Défense, Panorama sold for £10,500, and Steve McCurry, with two iconic images sold for £8,700 and £10,700 respectively.
Steve McCurry
Among the Italian masters, Oliviero Toscani surprised everyone with a historic image for the Benetton campaign, Manette, which sold for €8,340, a record for the artist.
Andreas Gursky
‘A sign of confidence’
‘Exceeding 93% of the total reserve value and selling over 60% of the lots in a very extensive catalogue, with 265 works, confirms that not only is the number of sales growing, but also their distribution among different artists, techniques and price ranges,’ says Marica Rossetti, senior expert in the photography department of the auction house led by Alessandro Guerrini. ‘It is a clear sign of the confidence that collectors continue to show in our work and in Finarte’s offering.’
