Avedon auction in Paris reaps $7.5 million

PARIS – Christies' says a Paris auction of prints by the late American photographer Richard Avedon, including a multicolored four-frame picture of the Beatles, has brought in €5.5 million ($7.5 million).

Auctioneers say an outsized print of the 1955 photograph of model Dovima with elephants at a circus was the top earner at the sale — reaping €841,000 ($1.15 million) alone.

The psychedelic-toned Beatles shot from 1967 brought in €445,000 ($608,000). The third-highest take came from a photograph of model Stephanie Seymour cheekily baring herself.

Sixty-five Avedon prints went under the gavel on Saturday.

It was the largest auction of works by Avedon, who died in 2004. The auction was aimed to raise money for the Richard Avedon Foundation.