Rare Wolfgang Tillmans Photographs to Come to Market for First Time

Wolfgang Tillmans b. 1968, Germany Follow +

A collection of 15 photographs by Wolfgang Tillmans are coming to the market for the first time from a private collection.

Estimated between 3,000 and 120,000 GBP, they span a pivotal period of the German artist’s work from the 1990s to the early 2000s.

The collection will be available to view at Christie’s King Street space in London from 12 to 21 February 2025, ahead of their Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale on 6 March. The photographs will also be available to view online from 26 February to 12 March.

Highlights include a portrait of the iconic Kate Moss (Kate Sitting, 1996), intimate depictions of friends (Joy Ray, 1990), and the artist as subject clinging to the camera lens (me in the shower, 1990).

Another highlight is Urgency XIX (2006), an abstract, red-hued cameraless photograph, with an estimate of 120,000–180,000 GBP.

‘This collection of Wolfgang Tillmans’ photographs not only captures a defining decade but also highlights his transformative approach to photography,’ said Katharine Arnold, Christie’s Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art in Europe.

Tillmans has primarily lived in London and Berlin since the 1990s. In 2000, he was the first photographer and non-British artist to receive the Tate’s Turner Prize. —[O]

Main image: Left to right: Wolfgang Tillmans, Kate Sitting (1996) (detail); Urgency XIX (2006) (detail). Courtesy Christie's.