Is This Photograph Worth $1 Million or $200? Learn How Sotheby's Finds Out

Why It Matters

The case shows that rigorous scientific authentication can turn a modest photograph into a marquee auction asset, reshaping price benchmarks for early 20th‑century photography.

Key Takeaways

• Scientific tests confirm print is genuine gum bichromate.
• Early 1908 Edward Steichen photograph, negatives destroyed in WWI.
• UV, microscopy, and XRF reveal pre‑1955 materials and chromium.
• Only three large‑format prints exist; this is last privately held.
• Authenticity drives valuation above one million dollars at auction.

Summary

Sotheby’s New York prints department staged a forensic examination of an early‑print photograph by Edward Steichen, “Balszac the Open Sky” (1908), to decide whether it belongs in the million‑dollar tier or the modest hundreds‑dollar range.

The team applied a sequence of non‑invasive tests: visual inspection under raking light revealed hand‑applied brush strokes; ultraviolet illumination showed no optical brighteners, ruling out post‑1955 production; an industrial‑grade microscope exposed the paper’s fiber texture and pigment layers; and X‑ray fluorescence identified a strong chromium peak, confirming a gum‑bichromate process.

Because Steichen’s original negatives were destroyed in World War I, any surviving prints are exceedingly scarce. Only two other large‑format examples exist, both carbon prints; this gum‑bichromate version is the sole one in private hands, and the conservators noted the artist’s painterly hand in the coating.

The scientific validation cements the work’s provenance and justifies a projected auction price exceeding $1 million, underscoring how technical analysis now underpins valuation in the high‑end photography market.

Original Description

How do experts determine whether a photograph is worth a few hundred dollars—or more than $1 million? In this episode, Sotheby’s specialists and conservators investigate a rare early print of Balzac, The Open Sky by Edward Steichen, one of the defining figures in the history of photography. Through visual analysis, ultraviolet examination, microscopy, and X-ray fluorescence testing, they uncover the material evidence behind its extraordinary rarity and significance.

Created in 1908 and depicting Honoré de Balzac through Auguste Rodin’s sculpture, this atmospheric image reflects a moment when photography was being reimagined as fine art. With Steichen’s original negatives destroyed during World War I and only a handful of examples known, the discovery of an authentic gum dichromate print became a remarkable event in the market—and in photographic history.

Edward Steichen's Balzac, The Open Sky—11 P.M. will be part of Sotheby's Modern Day Auction, presented by CELINE, happening at the historic Breuer building in New York on 20 May.

Learn more about the photograph by Edward Steichen ►► https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2026/modern-day-auction/balzac-the-open-sky-11-p-m

Still haven’t subscribed to Sotheby’s on YouTube? ►►https://www.youtube.com/sothebys/

#EdwardSteichen #PhotoAuthentication #Sothebys #PhotographyAuction #FineArtPhotography #ArtScience #PrintsAndPhotographs #ArtAuthentication #GumDichromate #AuctionHouse