Josef Koudelka's Auction Record Jumps 175%

Josef Koudelka's Gypsies (1989) sold for $283,800, more than one and a half times the low estimate at Phillips in New York on October 9. The portfolio of sixty gelatin silver prints, which had been traded twice in the past, made its auction debut in the Phillips sale.

In the late 1960s, Koudelka began documenting the Romas’ nomadic lives using "fast" film, which allowed him to photograph in low-light situations. He first exhibited his Roma images in 1967 at theatre in Prague, where they were spotted by Alan Porter, editor at Camera magazine. He was so impressed he published featured a selection in the November issue.

Koudelka was introduced by fellow photograher Henri Cartier-Bresson to the Paris-based publisher Robert Delpire, which resulted in "Gypsies" in 1975, the French-Czech photographer's seminal photobook featuring 60 images, one per page. Gypsies, the portfolio, was published by Koudelka in 1989 in a limited edition of only six.

The sale beat the photographer's previous auction record by $182,200, a 175% rise. His previous record was set by Selected Images of Prague (2008), which sold for $101,600 at Sotheby's on May 2, 2023.

A Brief History of Josef Koudelka at Auction