David Wojnarowicz Value: Top Prices Paid at Auction

When Earth, Wind, Fire And Water (1986) sold at Sotheby’s New York in November 2018, it set a new record for Wojnarowicz’s work. Its composition is quintessential of the artist’s multimedia practice, combining acrylic paint, spray paint, and collage to create a complex post-disaster narrative. The collage incorporates printed maps, flyers, and Spanish posters, overlaid with recurring images in Wojnarowicz’s work: volcanoes, snowmen, devils, and hearts. These elements, arranged in a dream-like state of free symbolism and association, were inspired by his fascination with Mexico as a place free from the restrictions of America, the destruction of the natural environment, and the risks of technological progress. Its strong performance at auction, achieving almost double its high estimate, marked a crucial moment in the growing recognition of his market.

Wojnarowicz’s use of the elements to encapsulate his political ideas can also be seen in his limited edition prints Earth & Wind (1991) and Fire & Water (1991).

This provocative 1984 work secured this politically and commercially significant result at Phillips New York in May 2022, marking a significant increase from its original sale through the Civilian Warfare Gallery in New York's East Village. The piece represents a crucial example of Wojnarowicz's direct approach to addressing homophobia and was created during the height of the AIDS crisis. Its imagery is straight to the point, with figures that stand exposed in the face of discrimination and puzzle-piece world maps that both suggest and call for universality. It combines found imagery with raw, confrontational text in a way that would become characteristic of his most powerful pieces.

Selling at Christie's New York in November 2022, this 1986 painting shares its title with Wojnarowicz's landmark 2018 retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art. The work, dedicated to German artist and friend Rilo Chmielorz, is typical of Wojnarowicz's weaving of personal relationships into broader political narratives. The background, comprising repeated US dollar bills, maps, targets, and biological diagrams of the human body, speaks to Wojnarowicz’s interest in the connections between capitalism, nationalism, and heteronormativity. The overlaid images are, in contrast, more outwardly aggressive, featuring guns, injury, aliens, targets, and destruction. Created in the same year as his auction record holder, it is another example of Wojnarowicz’s fully developed artistic style, combining layered symbolic imagery with autobiographical elements.

Science Lesson (1982-83) achieved this notable result at Christie's New York in May 2018. It is the earliest work on this list, created during Wojnarowicz’s transition from street art to gallery-based work. It demonstrates his early experimentation with the multimedia techniques that would later define his practice, including spray enamel, photomontage, and masonite. This factor will have contributed to its success, as an example of his artistic development. It emerged from a period when Wojnarowicz was actively engaging with the East Village art scene, creating works that bridged the gap, or dismantled the barrier, between street culture and fine art institutions.

The screenprint, collage, and acrylic composition He Kept Following Me (1990) secured this impressive result at Ketterer Kunst GmbH, Munich, in December 2022, marking a significant achievement for a late-career work. Created just two years before his death from AIDS-related complications, the piece and its title reflect the increasing urgency and intensity of his later works. Its successful sale in Europe demonstrates the expanding international recognition of Wojnarowicz's significance, particularly for works that engage with themes of surveillance, persecution, and personal struggle.

This 1988-89 work achieved its result at Christie's New York in November 2021, exemplifying Wojnarowicz's exploration of dream imagery and subconscious narratives. Created during a period of intense political activism, the piece combines his characteristic use of symbolic imagery with deeply personal dream-like elements. Wojnarowicz believed in the importance of including ideas and images taken directly from his dreams to capture personal experience - in this instance, the dinosaur with Wojnarowicz’s name forming a row of spines becomes a surreal and fascinating psychological centrepiece. Like many of the Wojnarowicz artworks on this list, this piece had only been sold once before, soon after its creation, adding immeasurable appeal for collectors looking for unique pieces.

Achieving this result at an online Sotheby's US sale in April 2024, Untitled (Face In Dirt) (1991) represents one of Wojnarowicz's most poignant late works. Created just a year before his death, this piece belongs to a series of photographs that would become some of his most iconic images. The photograph shows the artist's face partially buried in dirt, creating a powerful metaphor for mortality, as he was battling his own, and resistance. Its strong performance, particularly in an online sale format, demonstrates the continuing relevance of his work to contemporary collectors.

Mexico Crucifix (1987-88) secured its spot on this list at Christie's New York in November 2017 - it was Wojnarowicz’s record at the time. The work reflects Wojnarowicz's fascination with Mexico, where he spent significant time throughout his career, finding both inspiration and refuge. When this work was created, he was actively confronting religious and political institutions and trying to change deep-seated prejudice, which can be seen in the crucifix composition of the piece and its clear use of religious and cultural iconography. The work's successful sale helped establish the strong market interest in pieces that directly engage with institutional critique.

Selling at Sotheby's New York in November 2019, Desert Journal (1986) embodies Wojnarowicz’s love of the landscape of the American Southwest, which he explored in both his art and his writing - this painting, a visual journal, seems to bring the two mediums together. In 1991, Wojnarowicz travelled through the Southwest with his friend, photographer Marion Scemama; a poignant trip because he knew it was likely his last. When Desert Journal sold in 2019 out of a prominent private collection in New York, it was one of the first times it had been publicly seen since its initial display and sale at the Gracie Mansion Gallery in 1986.

Untitled (Gorilla) (1984) achieved this result at Christie's New York in September 2022, rounding out Wojnarowicz's top 10 auction results with a prime example of his multimedia approach. Combining acrylic paint, printed dollars, canvas, and masonite, the work has perhaps a simpler composition and meaning than many of Wojnarowicz’s works from this time. The gorilla, tied to posts, on fire, against a background of stacked money immediately brings Biblical sacrifice, capitalist greed, and natural destruction to mind. It was created in the same year as Fuck You Faggot Fucker (1984), which became a kind of breakthrough year for Wojnarowicz in the East Village art scene.