Imagine you want to buy a car. Instead of buying it directly from the manufacturer or dealer, you attend an estate auction where another owner is selling it. You place the winning bid, but the amount you bid isn't necessarily the amount you ultimately pay. A buyer's premium is added, and taxes, shipping or other costs may follow.
That comparison isn't perfect, but it illustrates one of the fundamental differences between buying art in the primary market and buying it through an auction house.
An art auction house is a business that facilitates the sale of artwork and collectibles through competitive bidding. Major houses such as Christie's and Sotheby's are particularly important to the secondary art market, where previously owned works are resold by collectors, estates, dealers and institutions.
What is an art auction house?
An art auction house is a business that facilitates the sale of artwork and collectibles through competitive bidding. Sellers consign works to the auction house, which catalogs and markets them before offering them to bidders.
What are the two biggest names in fine-art auctions?
Christie's and Sotheby's are the two auction houses most strongly associated with the international high-end fine-art market. Both have histories extending more than 250 years.
What is a buyer's premium?
A buyer's premium is an additional fee charged by the auction house on top of the hammer price. For example, a $20,000 winning bid subject to a 28% buyer's premium would result in $5,600 in buyer's premium, producing a $25,600 subtotal before applicable taxes, shipping or other charges.
What is the difference between the primary and secondary art markets?
The primary market is the first sale of an artwork, typically directly from an artist or through a gallery representing the artist. The secondary market involves the resale of artwork that has already been purchased. Auction houses are important participants in this market.
Can living artists sell directly through Christie's?
Christie's states that it does not consign works directly from individual artists or their representatives because it operates in the secondary market. Works by living artists can nevertheless appear at auction when existing owners consign those works for resale.
Are fine art photography prints good investments?
Some photographs have developed substantial secondary markets, while many others have not. Photographer reputation, rarity, edition structure, printing date, provenance, condition and collector demand can all affect resale value. Art should not be assumed to appreciate simply because it is described as a limited edition.
I have been a fine art photographer for years, and I find the auction world genuinely fascinating. Its history stretches back centuries. It has produced extraordinary sales, intense competition, famous scandals and some of the most closely watched prices in the art world.
Understanding how this market works also reveals something important for collectors of contemporary photography: buying a historical photograph at auction and buying a newly produced print directly from a living photographer are two very different transactions.
Let's start with the auction houses themselves.
How Many Major Art Auction Houses Are There?
There is no official organization that designates a specific number of auction houses as "major." Hundreds of regional and specialist auction houses operate throughout the world.
Internationally Significant Fine-Art Auction Houses
- Sotheby's — Founded 1744, London. Fine art, luxury objects and major collections.
- Christie's — Founded 1766, London. Fine art, luxury objects and major collections.
- Bonhams — Founded 1793, London. Fine art, collectibles and specialist categories.
- Phillips — Founded 1796, London. Modern and contemporary art, design and watches.
- China Guardian — Founded 1993, Beijing. Chinese art and the Asian market.
- Poly Auction — Founded 2005, Beijing. Chinese art and major Asian collections.
- Heritage Auctions — Founded 1976, Dallas. Art, coins, comics and specialist collectibles.
Among these, Christie's and Sotheby's are the two names most closely associated with the international high-end art auction market.
The Big Two: Christie's and Sotheby's
Sotheby's is the older of the two. It traces its history to 1744, when London bookseller Samuel Baker held an auction of books from the library of Sir John Stanley. The company initially specialized largely in books and manuscripts before expanding into fine art and other collecting categories. By the 20th century, Sotheby's had become one of the central institutions of the international art trade. Today its business extends beyond traditional live auctions into private sales, luxury goods and other collecting categories. For current information directly from the company, visit Sotheby's.
Christie's was founded in London by James Christie in 1766. Christie's auction rooms became associated with aristocratic collectors, dealers and artists, helping establish London as one of the centers of the European art market. Over the following centuries, Christie's developed into a global auction business dealing in everything from Old Master paintings and Impressionist art to contemporary art, photography, jewelry and luxury collectibles. One of the most famous sales in auction history occurred at Christie's in 2017, when Salvator Mundi, attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, sold for $450.3 million. The attribution has remained the subject of scholarly debate, but the sale demonstrated the extraordinary sums that can be generated when rarity, provenance, attribution and global attention converge. Learn more from Christie's.
Other Major Art Auction Houses
Christie's and Sotheby's dominate popular discussion, but they are far from the only important auction businesses. Phillips was founded in London in 1796 and is today particularly associated with modern and contemporary art, photography, design and watches — making it especially relevant to collectors interested in contemporary culture. Visit Phillips. Bonhams traces its history to London in 1793 and has developed into an international auction business covering fine art as well as numerous specialist collecting categories. Visit Bonhams.
The expansion of China's art market created auction businesses capable of operating at enormous scale. China Guardian was founded in Beijing in 1993, while Poly Auction followed in 2005. Both became important institutions for Chinese art and collectors throughout Asia. Their rise illustrates an important point: the modern art market is no longer simply London and New York. Hong Kong, Beijing and other Asian markets now play major roles in international collecting.
Heritage Auctions was founded in Dallas in 1976 and developed a particularly broad collectibles business covering categories such as coins, comics, entertainment memorabilia, sports collectibles and art. Visit Heritage Auctions.
How Do Art Auction Houses Work?
At its simplest, an auction connects a seller with potential buyers. The owner of an artwork — perhaps a collector, estate, dealer or institution — consigns the work to an auction house. Specialists research the object and examine factors including the artist or maker, authenticity, provenance, condition, dimensions, date, exhibition history, literature, previous sales and comparable auction results. The auction house then establishes an estimated value and, where applicable, a reserve price. The work is cataloged and offered for sale. Potential buyers compete by bidding. When the auctioneer's hammer falls, the highest accepted bid becomes the hammer price.
But the hammer price is not necessarily what the buyer ultimately pays.
Hammer Price vs. What the Buyer Actually Pays
This is one of the most important concepts for someone new to art auctions. Suppose you win an artwork with a hammer price of $20,000. At major auction houses, a buyer's premium is added to the hammer price. As of September 2026, both Christie's and Sotheby's list a 28% buyer's premium on the first $2 million of hammer price for applicable New York sales, with lower percentage rates applying to higher price tiers.
"A $20,000 hammer price at 28% buyer's premium becomes $25,600 before taxes, shipping, or any other charges — and fee structures can change."
That means a $20,000 hammer price at a 28% buyer's premium becomes a hammer price of $20,000, plus a buyer's premium of $5,600, for a subtotal of $25,600 — and that can still be before applicable taxes, shipping and certain other charges. Current fee structures can change, so collectors should always check the auction house's current conditions before bidding. See Christie's current auction fee information and Sotheby's current buyer's premium information.
Do Sellers Pay Auction Fees Too?
Potentially, yes. The buyer's premium and seller's commission are separate. A buyer's premium is added to the buyer's winning bid. Seller's commission is an arrangement between the auction house and the consignor. The actual amount can vary according to the work, value, category, expected demand and negotiated consignment terms. For particularly desirable works, auction houses may compete aggressively for consignments and offer favorable terms. This is why it is misleading to assume that every seller pays the same fixed percentage. For more detail, see Christie's explanation of auction fees.
What Is the Difference Between the Primary and Secondary Art Market?
Understanding this distinction makes the rest of the auction market much easier to follow. The primary market is where an artwork is sold for the first time — directly from an artist, through the artist's representing gallery, through an art fair, or through another authorized primary-market seller. When someone purchases one of my photographs directly from Jongas Fine Art Photography, that is a primary-market transaction. The work is moving directly from the artist into a collector's collection.
The secondary market begins when previously purchased artwork is resold. The seller may be a collector, an estate, a dealer, a corporation, a museum or institution, or another previous owner. Traditional fine-art auctions are therefore primarily associated with the secondary market. Christie's states that it does not consign work directly from individual artists or their representatives because it operates as a secondary-market seller. See Christie's information about selling artwork at auction. That distinction becomes particularly important when discussing living artists.
Can a Living Artist Sell Directly Through Christie's or Sotheby's?
The appearance of a living artist at a major auction should not be confused with the artist personally bringing a new work to the auction house. In the traditional secondary-market model, a collector or other owner consigns a work that has already entered the market. For example, a collector might buy a photograph from an artist or gallery. Years later, the collector decides to sell it. If sufficient secondary-market demand exists, the photograph could eventually be consigned to an auction house. Christie's specifically states that it does not accept consignments directly from individual artists or their representatives. This illustrates why primary-market success and secondary-market activity are different stages in an artist's market.
Why Do Collectors Buy Art at Auction?
With buyer's premiums and other potential costs, why do collectors use auction houses? Because auctions provide several things that the primary market sometimes cannot. If you want an original painting by Gustav Klimt, there is obviously no possibility of buying a newly created Klimt directly from the artist. The existing works are held by museums, institutions and private collectors. When one of those owners decides to sell, the secondary market provides access. The same principle applies to historical photography: if a collector wants a particular vintage photograph by Ansel Adams, Edward Weston or another deceased photographer, the work may only become available when an existing owner decides to sell.
Auctions also create something extremely valuable in an otherwise opaque market: public price discovery. A competitive auction provides evidence of what bidders were willing to pay for a particular work at a particular time. Those results become part of the work's market history, and collectors, dealers, insurers, appraisers and financial institutions can use previous transactions as comparable sales. Art markets change, but public auction results create a reference point that private transactions often do not provide. Major auction houses also devote considerable resources to cataloging works — researching ownership history, previous auction appearances, exhibition history, literature references, signatures, edition information and condition, all of which can become part of the permanent scholarly record surrounding the object.
Why Art Auction Houses Have Also Attracted Controversy
Auction houses occupy an unusual position. They are commercial businesses, but they also serve as important gatekeepers within the art market. That combination has occasionally produced major controversies. Perhaps the most famous involved Christie's and Sotheby's during the 1990s. Executives associated with the two companies were investigated for colluding over seller commission rates. The U.S. Department of Justice described a conspiracy to fix commission rates charged to sellers. Sotheby's later pleaded guilty and agreed to pay a $45 million criminal fine. Former Sotheby's chairman A. Alfred Taubman was subsequently convicted in connection with the scheme. The case remains one of the most important antitrust scandals in modern art-market history. Read the original U.S. Department of Justice price-fixing case announcement.
The episode doesn't erase the enormous role these institutions have played in preserving, cataloging and transferring important artworks. It does, however, demonstrate why collectors should understand the commercial structure behind the prestige.
How Fine Art Photography Is Sold at Auction
Photography introduces another layer of complexity. A painting is usually a unique physical object. Photography can exist in multiple prints produced from the same image. That means collectors need to understand exactly what kind of photographic print they are buying. Two prints showing exactly the same photograph can have dramatically different market values. A vintage print made close to the date the photograph was created may occupy a very different position in the market from a later print produced from the same negative. Edition size matters as well — a photograph from an edition of 10 has a fundamentally different supply structure from a photograph produced in an edition of hundreds or thousands. This is one reason collectors should look beyond the image itself and understand the physical object being purchased.
Factors Affecting the Collectible Value of a Photograph
- Photographer: Reputation, historical significance and market demand.
- Printing date: Vintage prints made close to creation date vs. later printings.
- Edition size and number: An edition of 10 is structurally different from an edition of hundreds.
- Print process: The medium and technology used to produce the print.
- Signature: Whether personally signed and authenticated by the photographer.
- Condition: Physical state of the print.
- Provenance: Chain of ownership and exhibition history.
- Rarity: How many examples exist and how often they come to market.
- Artist supervision: Whether the photographer personally supervised or produced the print.
For a deeper discussion of scarcity, collecting and potential resale value, read Are Fine Art Photography Prints a Good Investment?
Buying Photography at Auction vs. Buying Directly From a Living Photographer
This is where the distinction between the primary and secondary markets becomes particularly useful. Buying a historical Ansel Adams photograph at auction and buying a contemporary landscape photograph directly from a working photographer solve two completely different collecting problems. If you want a historical print that is no longer available from its creator, the secondary market may be the only practical way to acquire it. But if the photographer is alive and the work is currently available directly from the artist, many of the functions performed by an auction house may not be necessary. There is no previous owner, no uncertain chain of custody, no need to determine whether the artist actually authorized the print, and no auction-house buyer's premium added to the hammer price. Instead, the collector is acquiring the work directly from its source.
The Advantages of Buying Fine Art Photography Directly From the Artist
When you purchase a Jongas print directly from me, the provenance begins with the artist. There is no previous collector whose ownership needs to be reconstructed. Each limited-edition print is documented with a Certificate of Authenticity and its edition information. There is no auction-house buyer's premium added to the purchase — the collector pays the stated studio price rather than winning a bid and then discovering that an additional percentage must be added to it.
There is another advantage that doesn't appear on an auction invoice. You can ask the artist about the photograph. I can tell you where I was standing, what the weather was doing, what happened before the exposure and why I decided to make that particular image. For collectors who care about the story behind the artwork, that direct connection can matter. The secondary market also looks backward — it redistributes works that already exist in collections. Buying from a living artist gives collectors access to the artist's current body of work while it is still developing.
Buying Art Directly Is Not Automatically an Investment
There is an important distinction here. Buying directly from an artist eliminates auction-house premiums and provides direct provenance. It does not guarantee that the artwork will appreciate. Those are completely different questions. Most art should be purchased primarily because the collector wants to own and live with it. Secondary-market demand can develop over time, but no living artist can responsibly guarantee what future collectors will pay for a work. I discuss this issue much more extensively in Modern Fine Art Photography Prints — Is It a Good Investment or Not So Much?
For me, the strongest reason to collect photography remains remarkably simple: you should want the photograph on your wall. Everything else comes afterward.
Collecting Jongas Fine Art Photography
My work spans landscapes, mountains, cities, oceans, waterfalls, trees, forests and abstract compositions photographed across the United States and internationally. Jongas photographs are available as limited-edition fine art prints, including my signature Lumachrome HD prints face-mounted behind TruLife® optical acrylic. The purpose of this presentation isn't simply protection — face-mounting the photograph to optical acrylic creates exceptional depth, detail and luminosity, particularly in large landscape photographs. For collectors looking for artwork on a larger architectural scale, selected images are available at sizes reaching up to 120 inches. Each limited-edition print includes a Certificate of Authenticity.
Explore Landscape Photography Prints · Explore Fine Art Panorama Prints · Explore City Photography Prints · Explore Ocean Photography Prints · Browse the Jongas Fine Art Photography Collections
The Auction Market and the Artist's Studio Serve Different Collectors
Christie's, Sotheby's and other auction houses perform an important function in the art world. They allow existing works to move between collections. They provide access to historical material. They establish public auction records. They research provenance. And they bring artworks back onto the market that might otherwise remain inaccessible for generations. For historical art and photography, that secondary market can be indispensable.
But contemporary fine art photography offers collectors another route. When the photographer is still working and the photograph remains available from the artist, a collector can begin the provenance rather than inherit it. There is no previous owner and no auction buyer's premium. The collector receives the work directly from the person who created it. For me, that relationship between photographer, photograph and collector remains one of the most meaningful parts of creating fine art.
Explore Jongas Fine Art Photography · See the Complete Large Landscape Wall Art Buying Guide · Read About Fine Art Photography as an Investment
Eddie Jongas is a modern fine art photographer whose work includes landscapes, cities, seascapes, mountains, waterfalls, forests and abstract subjects photographed across 48 states and 15 countries. Jongas limited-edition fine art prints are available directly through Jongas Fine Art Photography.
