Image: OstLicht. Gallery for Photography, Vienna
OstLicht Photo Auction will return to Vienna on September 13, 2026, with a sale held in cooperation with the PARALLEL VIENNA art fair at the Otto Wagner Areal. The auction, scheduled for 2 pm, brings together around 280 lots ranging from historic classics to contemporary works, with a stated focus on contemporary photography and works that offer fresh perspectives. Viewing is planned for September 9–13, and the online catalogue will go live on August 25.
The sale is part of OstLicht’s long-running auction programme devoted exclusively to photography. On its own site, the auction house describes the forthcoming event as a continuation of its tradition of significant photography auctions, emphasizing original works, careful selection and the presentation of new photographic positions. OstLicht also notes that bidding will be possible in person, online, by phone or by absentee bid, while the website’s upcoming-auctions listing places the sale within the fair calendar at 14:00 CET on September 13.
The collaboration links the auction to one of Vienna’s better-known contemporary art fair formats. PARALLEL VIENNA, founded in 2013, presents itself as an annual September fair that transforms unconventional spaces into exhibition venues. For 2026, the fair’s website lists its dates as September 9–13 at the Otto-Wagner-Areal in Vienna. OstLicht’s auction will take place in that context, rather than as a standalone sale at its own premises.
Among the highlighted lots are photographs by Andreas Groll, Moriz Nähr, Anton Josef Trčka, Anton Giulio Bragaglia, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Marc Riboud, Peter Beard, Rudolf Schwarzkogler, Elfie Semotan, Nobuyoshi Araki, and others. The highlights page singles out a rare albumen print by Andreas Groll, ‘Girl from Romanian-Bogsan, Banat’, from the 1860s, and identifies Moriz Nähr’s ‘Last portrait of Gustav Klimt, Vienna 1917’ as a vintage gelatin silver print printed in the 1920s. Both works are presented with detailed technical notes and estimated values.
The auction also reaches into later 20th-century and contemporary photography through works such as Peter Beard’s ‘Picasso at a bullfight in Fréjus, Côte d’Azur, France 1964’, a later-printed gelatin silver print with ornamental overpainting, and Peter Beard’s ‘Untitled, 1987’, a unique Polaroid Polacolor 20x24 inch. Other lots include Şahin Kaygun’s ‘Untitled, 1983’, a unique over-painted Polaroid T600 High Speed, and Nobuyoshi Araki’s ‘Lady Gaga (Bondage), Japan 2009’, a unique SX-70 Polaroid. The list underscores the auction’s mix of photographic history, artist experiment and collectible rarity.
OstLicht says the selected works will be on view throughout the fair from September 9 to 13 before going under the hammer on Sunday, September 13, at 2 pm. The online catalogue, including bidding access, is scheduled for August 25, with the house directing interested bidders to its website in advance of the sale.
