Paris – Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr is pleased to announce an online auction entitled "A Century of Sports Photography" from 21 June to 10 July 2025, in partnership with the BITL agency and the Deauville Sport Images Festival. This exceptional first auction will feature 92 limited-edition sports photographs – both vintage and contemporary. The selection brings together iconic images from the collections of Sports Illustrated, LIFE, Paris Match, AFP, L'Équipe, as well as works by renowned photographers such as Raymond Depardon, Neil Leifer, Michel Birot, Emanuele Scorcelletti. Estimates start at €500.

Arnaud Cornette de Saint Cyr, President of Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr, said: "A heartfelt thank you to the Deauville Sport Images Festival for conceiving this auction, which I am delighted to organise with Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr and BITL teams. Sport has this magical power to unite, to inspire, to stir emotion. We hope each visitor will feel that passion and leave with a fragment of a dream. »

Philippe Augier, Mayor of Deauville, commented: "The Deauville Sport Images Festival elevates the human journey and celebrates two essential dimensions: the perseverance of the athlete and the eye of the photographer who, through a single image, conveys powerful messages of hope in our societies, especially among the youngest. These 92 photographs offered in this exceptional auction open new perspectives and allow photography and sports enthusiasts the chance to acquire a story, or a spark of eternity to pass on. »

Agnès Vergez, director of the BITL agency and artistic director of the Deauville Sport Images Festival, added: "After organising the auctions of the Paris Match archives and those of LIFE magazine with Cornette de Saint Cyr teams, I decided to once again call upon Arnaud Cornette de Saint Cyr, now President of Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr, for this new chapter dedicated to sport. This sale is part of my broader ambition to support documentary photography and help contributing to its recognition on the art market. »

The auction offers a dynamic and colourful selection of high-quality modern prints, produced using techniques specially chosen according to the nature of each image. It offers a vast panorama of the world's major sporting events, from the 1920s to the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The catalogue is structured into 12 thematic sections. The opening section pays tribute to Deauville, the host city of the Festival, and features photos by Emanuele Scorcelletti (born in 1964) – Speed, Hippodrome de Deauville, July 2010 (Estimate: €1,000-2,000).

This will be followed by sections devoted to major sporting disciplines: athletics, cycling, swimming, football and rugby, motorsports, equestrian sports, tennis and sailing. Tributes will also be paid to renowned photographers such as Jean-Daniel Lorieux (born in 1937), Neil Leifer (born in 1942), Mathieu Forget (born in 1989), as well as to the American magazine LIFE.

The sale includes five photographs by Neil Leifer (born in 1942), an American sports photographer and filmmaker best known for his work with Sports Illustrated and Time. His iconic shots of Muhammad Ali are widely regarded as some of the greatest sports photographs of all time. Two exceptional photographs taken on October 9, 1970, will be offered: a Closeup of Muhammad Ali with a towel draped around his neck after training session at the 5th Street Gym in Miami, Florida. Miami Beach, Florida. and Muhammad Ali looks in the mirror while training at the 5th Street Gym. Miami Beach, Florida, edition of 50 copies, numbered copy at the bottom left and signed at the bottom right (estimate: €7,200 – €8,200).

Priced at an estimated €6,000 to €7,000, Muhammad Ali looks in the mirror while training at the 5th Street Gym. Miami Beach, Florida. October 9, 1970, is an iconic photograph of the boxing legend.

Mathieu Forget (born in 1989), is an internationally renowned artist and artistic director, specializing in the art of movement and levitation. Parisian born, this dancer, photographer and performer embodies a new vision of dance, both digital and real. Through his work, Mathieu aspires to promote freedom of expression, surpassing oneself and the fusion of styles. Nicknamed the Flying Man thanks to his unedited photos and videos, he defies the laws of gravity through his levitating works. The proposed shot is Blue Butterfly. With Florent Manaudou. Cercle des Nageurs, built in Antibes in 2023 (estimate: €5,000-7,000).

Other highlight lots in the sale include:

• From the AFP collections, a black and white print, silver on baryta paper, representing the famous Monegasque circuit entitled Duel between Italian racing drivers Luigi Fagioli and Luigi Soffietti during the Monte Carlo motor-racing track, April 22, 1935 is estimated at €1,700 to €2,000.

• A print by Jean-Pierre Biot (1935-2008), from the Paris Match archives, is a later silver-digital print on satin RC paper, sold with Paris Match certificates (estimate: €1,500-2,500). Built in Lorient, the Pen-Duick-III is a schooner with an ultra-innovative aluminium alloy hull, launched in 1967 and designed by, and for the famous Éric Tabarly. From 1967, the schooner won all the races of the season, and particularly the Sydney-Hobart, with the youngest crew of the race averaging just 22 years old.

• From the AFP collections, a famous photograph by John Macdougall (born in 1965) capturing French midfielder Zinedine Zidane headbutting Italian defender Marco Materazzi during the 2006 World Cup final between Italy and France at Berlin's Olympic Stadium on 9 July 2006 is a silver print on satin paper, from a digital file (C-type print), estimated at €2,200 – €3,000.

• Taken by Jérôme Brouillet (born in 1975) now represented by Galerie Jean-Denis Walter, the photograph of Gabriel Medina in Teahupoo (Tahiti), during the surfing event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games has captured global attention. This signed and certified ChromaLuxe print is offered with an estimate of €9,000 to €11,000.

• Also represented by the Galerie Jean-Denis Walter, Bilal Aouffen (born in 2000) became famous with a photograph taken during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Olympic games Paris 2024 cycling in Montmartre, racers in Rue Lepic has become iconic for capturing the festive spirit of Paris and paying tribute to the famous street in Montmartre. The print, signed by the artist and accompanied by a certificate, is estimated at €25,000-30,000.

• The famous French newspaper L'Équipe holds both historic and contemporary treasures, such as a remarkable and striking photograph of Camille Lacourt, taken on August 8, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, by Franck Séguin (estimate: €1,600-2,000). Camille Lacourt is one of the great figures of French swimming in the 2000s. A backstroke specialist, he is a five-time world champion and five-time European champion.

• Also from the archives of L'Équipe, Rafael Nadal, on 9 June 2019, Paris, is a striking photograph by Jérôme Prévost (born in 1965) that depicts Rafael Nadal, raising his arms in victory on the clay courts of Roland-Garros, after defeating Austria's Dominic Thiem in the final and celebrating his 12th Parisian title, an exceptional achievement in the history of the sport. He would go on to win a total of 14, a record recently celebrated at Roland-Garros. This print on Hahnemühle FineArt Baryta Satin 300 g paper will be sold with a certificate of authenticity from L'Équipe with an estimate of €1,200 to €1,500.

• From the LIFE Magazine Collection, Driver Sam Posey testing Ferrari prototype race car. Sebring, Florida, United States of America, 1969, by Ed Eppridge (1938-2013) is a silver-digital print on Fujiflex paper estimated at €2,000-3,000. The LIFE Picture Collection is one of the most prestigious private photographic archives in the United States. From 1936 to 2000, LIFE magazine commissioned over 10 million photographs covering 120,000 stories. At its peak, LIFE's unparalleled images and reports reached one in three American readers. The original photographs and articles are preserved within the LIFE Picture Collection, an unprecedented cultural heritage containing millions of untold stories and previously unseen images.

• Also from the LIFE archives, Ballerinas standing on windowsill in rehearsal room at George Balanchine's School of American Ballet, New York, United States of America, 1936, by Alfred Eisenstaedt (1898-1995) is a charcoal ink print (piezograph) on Hahnemühle baryta paper, estimated at €3,000-4,000.

• Represented by the Galerie Jean-Denis Walter, Laurent Gudin (born in 1967) signed and certified this print sold with an estimate of €1,700 to €2,000. It represents a Wrestling in Senegal Dakar, La medina, 2007.