Huge Collection of Vivian Maier Prints Expected to Sell for Up to $1.5 Million

A group of 206 prints by Vivian Maier is estimated to fetch up to $1.5 million at auction in a sale that could have significant implications for the photographer’s market.

The collection, titled “A Collection of 206 Sold-Out Estate Prints, 1950–1980,” is the leading offering in Artnet’s Important Photographs sale and carries an estimate of $1 million to $1.5 million, with opening bids starting at $600,000. The auction is live for bidding through March 26, 2026. According to a report by ArtNet, the prints’ scale and composition make it an unusual offering in the secondary market for Maier’s photography.

Maier is the American street photographer who posthumously became internationally famous after 26-year-old real estate agent John Maloof purchased the contents of an unclaimed storage locker at an estate sale for $400 in 2007. The content included tens of thousands of negatives and slides by Maier, ultimately forming an archive of more than 100,000 images. Maier, who worked as a nanny, had spent decades documenting American life from the 1950s through the 1980s without public recognition.

Little is known about Maier, a French-American born in New York in 1926. She did not reveal her enthusiasm for photography to the people closest to her, was extremely reclusive, and suffered from mental illness. But after learning of Maier’s death in 2009, Maloof began sharing her photographs online, prompting widespread interest.

Maier will likely not have wanted the level of fame she achieved after her death. However, her story is now well-known and she is considered a photography phenomenon. Maier was the subject of an Oscar-nominated documentary in 2013, and her work has been included in scores of international exhibitions. Despite this recognition, the market for her prints remains relatively recent.

The availability of a large group of sold-out works in a single lot may therefore represent a rare opportunity for collectors and could help establish new benchmarks for pricing. The estate of Maier only began releasing prints in 2011, and each was limited to an edition of 15.

“Maier’s secondary market is still relatively new,” says Susanna Wenniger, Artnet’s of photographs. “If a print is sold out, it means it is no longer available in any of her galleries and can only be found on the secondary market. So it is very rare to get access to all of the prints, from all the editions that are currently sold out.”

The Important Photographs sale is live on Artnet Auctions through March 26.