Judd Tully’s report on Christie’s Up Close and Contemporary Photography and Design sale curtain openers reveals this interesting data on the work of Andreas Gursky who is well represented across this week’s sales:

Andreas Gursky’s billboard scaled, 82 by 200 inch “May Day IV” from 2000, a chromogenic print face-mounted to Plexiglas in artist’s frame and depicting the gyrations and abandon of a German underground rave scene, shimmied to £758,750/$1,006,344 (est. £500-700,000). The pulsating image was chosen by Gursky for the front cover catalogue of his 2001-02 retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art that was curated by Peter Galassi. Another version from the edition of six sold at Sotheby’s New York in May 2005 for $632,000.

Christie’s Up Close (Judd Tully)