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FOR ALL MANKIND

THE ARTISTIC LEGACY OF EARLY SPACE EXPLORATION: Victor Martin-Malburet Collection
14 – 28 April 2025

Between 1961 and 1972, NASA astronauts, armed with the most advanced cameras of their time, became the first human beings to photograph another world. With Earth rising behind them and the Moon beneath their boots, they captured more than never-before-seen pictures: they created a new visual language, a cosmic perspective that forever redefined humanity's place in the universe.

Back on Earth, NASA's photo labs transformed these moments into silver-gelatin and chromogenic masterworks — hauntingly beautiful, technically groundbreaking. These are not just records of science, but masterpieces of 20th-century art.

The Victor Martin-Malburet Collection, exhibited in museums including the Grand Palais and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, is the most comprehensive private archive of these vintage NASA photographs — featuring both the rare published icons and the unseen gems kept in NASA's vaults for decades.

Now, 449 timeless photographs are available at auction. Each print is a physical witness to humankind's first steps into the cosmos, bearing original NASA stamps, mission watermarks, and the aura of authenticity.

As we return to the Moon and dream of Mars, these works speak louder than ever. They are the first self-portraits of humanity as a spacefaring species — as timeless as cave paintings, as bold as the Renaissance, as visionary as modernism.

For all mankind.

Please note that a full version of the catalogue is available by clicking on the icon "catalogue" on the right.

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Paris, Avenue Hoche
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Auction highlights

[Apollo 11] A MAN ON THE MOON: portrait of Buzz Aldrin with the photographer, LM Eagle and Earth reflected in his gold-plated sun visor Neil Armstrong, 16-24 July 1969[Apollo 11] A MAN ON THE MOON: portrait of Buzz Aldrin with the photographer, LM Eagle and Earth reflected in his gold-plated sun visor Neil Armstrong, 16-24 July 1969. Sold for €28,160 inc. premium
[Apollo 11] THE FOOTPRINT ON THE MOON Buzz Aldrin, July 16-24, 1969[Apollo 11] THE FOOTPRINT ON THE MOON Buzz Aldrin, July 16-24, 1969. Sold for €8,960 inc. premium
[Gemini IV] COVER OF LIFE: the first U.S. space walk by Ed White James McDivitt, 3-7 June 1965[Gemini IV] COVER OF LIFE: the first U.S. space walk by Ed White James McDivitt, 3-7 June 1965. Sold for €7,040 inc. premium
[Apollo 17] THE FINAL EARTHRISE: a poetic crescent Earth above the Moon's dramatic horizon Ronald Evans, 7-19 December 1972[Apollo 17] THE FINAL EARTHRISE: a poetic crescent Earth above the Moon's dramatic horizon Ronald Evans, 7-19 December 1972. Sold for €3,584 inc. premium
[Apollo 4] THE HISTORIC FIRST LIFTOFF OF THE SATURN V ROCKET: NASA's crucial milestone for the Moon landing NASA, 9 November 1967[Apollo 4] THE HISTORIC FIRST LIFTOFF OF THE SATURN V ROCKET: NASA's crucial milestone for the Moon landing NASA, 9 November 1967. Sold for €3,072 inc. premium

Lot gallery

449 lots available

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[Apollo 16] THE MIGHTY SATURN V LIFTING OFF FROM EARTH TO THE MOON: a striking contrast between Nature and the Space Age NASA, 16 April 1972
[Apollo 16] BREATHTAKING VIEW OF THE NEARLY FULL PLANET EARTH Ken Mattingly, 16-27 April 1972
[Apollo 16] MISSION CONTROL WATCHING IN AWE THE LIVE TV VIEW OF EARTH NASA, 16-27 April 1972
[Apollo 16] CSM CASPER ORBITING THE LUNAR FARSIDE AFTER SEPARATING FROM LM ORION Charles Duke or John Young, 16-27 April 1972
[Apollo 16] COMMAND MODULE CASPER AND EARTHRISE Charles Duke, 16-27 April 1972
[Apollo 16] PORTRAIT OF JOHN YOUNG ON THE MOON AT THE DESCARTES SCIENTIFIC SITE Charles Duke, 16-27 April 1972, EVA 1
[Apollo 16] JOHN YOUNG DEPLOYING EXPERIMENTS AT THE SUNLIT DESCARTES SCIENTIFIC SITE Charles Duke, 16-27 April 1972, EVA 1
[Apollo 16] CHARLES DUKE BESIDE THE ROVER, ADMIRING THE MOONSCAPE FROM STATION 4 ON STONE MOUNTAIN John Young, 16-27 April 1972, EVA 2
[Apollo 16] JOHN YOUNG'S ICONIC "JUMPING SALUTE" Charles Duke, 16-27 April 1972, EVA 1
[Apollo 16] JOHN YOUNG WITH THE ROVER AND FLAG IN THE SUNLIT MOONSCAPE OF DESCARTES Charles Duke, 16-27 April 1972, EVA 3
[Apollo 16] PANORAMIC SEQUENCE OF STONE MOUNTAIN WITH CHARLES DUKE AND THE ROVER IN THE DISTANCE, STATION 4 (diptych) John Young, 16-27 April 1972, EVA 2
[Apollo 16] CHARLES DUKE SALUTING THE U.S. FLAG AT DESCARTES LANDING SITE John Young, 16-27 April 1972, EVA 1
[Apollo 16] PORTRAIT OF JOHN YOUNG AT PLUM CRATER, STATION 1 Charles Duke, 16-27 April 1972, EVA 1
[Apollo 16] JOHN YOUNG BEYOND LM ORION AND ROVER AT DESCARTES BASE Charles Duke, 16-27 April 1972, EVA 2
[Apollo 16] CHARLES DUKE AT OUTHOUSE ROCK, STATION 11 John Young, 16-27 April 1972, EVA 3
[Apollo 16] CHARLES DUKE CARRYING 'BIG MULEY' NEAR THE LM ORION, UV ASTRONOMY CAMERA, LUNAR ROVER, AND U.S. FLAG John Young, 16-27 April 1972, EVA 1
[Apollo 16] JOHN YOUNG COLLECTING LUNAR SAMPLES BELOW THE ROVER PARKED UPHILL AT STATION 11 Charles Duke, 16-27 April 1972, EVA 3
[Apollo 16] THE LM ORION IN THE SUNLIT MOONSCAPE OF DESCARTES Charles Duke, 16-27 April 1972, EVA 3
[Apollo 16] JOHN YOUNG WITH THE LUNAR HAMMER ON THE RIM OF PLUM CRATER AT STATION 1 Charles Duke, 16-27 April 1972, EVA 3
[Apollo 16] INCREDIBLE LONG-DISTANCE VIEW OF LM ORION FROM THE HEIGHTS OF STONE MOUNTAIN, STATION 4 Charles Duke, 16-27 April 1972, EVA 2
[Apollo 16] VISION FROM SPACE: incredible far-UV photograph of Planet Earth taken from the lunar Surface John Young, 16-27 April 1972
[Apollo 16] THE ROVER PARKED AT ITS FINAL VIP SITE, FACING THE LM ORION John Young, 16-27 April 1972, EVA 3
[Apollo 16] JOHN YOUNG BY THE ROVER ON THE STEEP SLOPES OF STONE MOUNTAIN, STATION 4 Charles Duke, 16-27 April 1972, EVA 3
[Apollo 16] LUNAR BOULDER AND SCOOP AT STATION 9 John Young, 16-27 April 1972, EVA 3
[Apollo 16] JOHN YOUNG EXPLORING THE MOON NEAR PLUM CRATER AT STATION 1 Charles Duke, 16-27 April 1972, EVA 1
[Apollo 16] SHADOW ROCK AT STATION 13 Charles Duke, 16-27 April 1972, EVA 3
[Apollo 16] CHARLES DUKE AT SHADOW ROCK, STATION 13 John Young, 16-27 April 1972, EVA 3
[Apollo 16] CHARLES DUKE BY THE LM ORION BEFORE LIFTOFF FROM THE MOON John Young, 16-27 April 1972, EVA 3
[Apollo 16] LM ORION REUNITING WITH CSM CASPER IN LUNAR ORBIT Ken Mattingly, 16-27 April 1972
[Apollo 16] THE LM ORION LIFTING OFF FROM THE LUNAR SURFACE NASA, 16-27 April 1972
[Apollo 16] STUNNING SUNSET HORIZON ABOVE THE FAR SIDE HIGHLANDS: high-resolution metric camera view NASA, 16-27 April 1972
[Apollo 16] BREATHTAKING VIEWS OF THE MOON AT SUNRISE: high-resolution metric camera views above Crater Ptolemeaus and craters Bonpland and Parry (2 photos) NASA, 16-27 April 1972
[Apollo 16] KEN MATTINGLY'S HISTORIC DEEP SPACE EVA: assisted by Charles Duke in the hatch of CSM Casper NASA, 16-27 April 1972
[Apollo 17] THE DRAMATIC NIGHTTIME LAUNCH OF THE FINAL HUMAN MISSION TO THE MOON (NASA's own copy, used and annotated, for the preparation of its final Apollo Science report) NASA, 7 December 1972
[Apollo 17] EARTH SETTING BELOW THE MOON'S DARK HORIZON: the first "Earthset" captured by humans (NASA's own copy, used and annotated, for the preparation of its final Apollo Science report) Harrison Schmitt, 7-19 December 1972
[Apollo 17] HUMMOCKY 40-KM CRATER FLOOR ON THE LUNAR FAR SIDE NEAR SNIADECKI (NASA's own copy, used and annotated, for the preparation of its final Apollo Science report) Harrison Schmitt, Eugene Cernan or Ronald Evans, 7-19 December 1972
[Apollo 17] THE BLUE MARBLE: first full-disk photograph of Planet Earth, captured by humans Harrison Schmitt or Ronald Evans, 7-19 December 1972
[Apollo 17] CSM AMERICA FLYING LOW OVER THE TAURUS-LITTROW LANDING SITE: seen from the LM Challenger window before landing (NASA's own copy, used and annotated, for the preparation of its final Apollo Science report) Eugene Cernan, 7-19 December 1972
[Apollo 17] HARRISON SCHMITT, THE FIRST SCIENTIST-ASTRONAUT, IN THE VALLEY OF TAURUS-LITTROW AT STATION 1 (NASA's own copy, used and annotated, for the preparation of its final Apollo Science report) Eugene Cernan, 7-19 December 1972, EVA 1
[Apollo 17] EUGENE CERNAN AND THE ROVER AT THE TAURUS-LITTROW SCIENTIFIC SITE, FRAMED BY THE TOWERING NORTH MASSIF (NASA's own copy, used and annotated, for the preparation of its final Apollo Science report) Harrison Schmitt, 7-19 December 1972, EVA 1
[Apollo 17] EUGENE CERNAN TEST-DRIVING THE FINAL ROVER ON THE MOON'S SURFACE Harrison Schmitt, 7-19 December 1972, EVA 1
[Apollo 17] HARRISON SCHMITT AND THE ROVER AT THE SEP SITE, WITH THE LM CHALLENGER IN THE BACKGROUND Eugene Cernan, 7–19 December 1972, EVA 1
[Apollo 17] HARRISON SCHMITT SEATED IN THE REPAIRED LUNAR ROVER AT NANSEN CRATER, STATION 2 (NASA's own copy, used and annotated, for the preparation of its final Apollo science report) Eugene Cernan, December 7-19, 1972, EVA 2
[Apollo 17] THE FANTASTIC FINAL MOONSCAPES WITNESSED BY HUMANS ON THE MOON, TRAVERSING ON BOARD THE ROVER (2 photos) Harrison Schmitt, 7-19 December 1972, EVA 3
[Apollo 17] HARRISON SCHMITT TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS AT TRACY'S ROCK, STATION 6 Eugene Cernan, 7-19 December 1972, EVA 3
[Apollo 17] HARRISON SCHMITT AND THE ROVER IN THE DESOLATE LUNARSCAPE OF SHORTY CRATER, STATION 4 Eugene Cernan, 7-19 December 1972, EVA 2
[Apollo 17] HARRISON SCHMITT JUMPING INTO THE ROVER SEAT AT VAN SERG CRATER, STATION 9 Eugene Cernan, 7-19 December 1972, EVA 3
[Apollo 17] EUGENE CERNAN KNEELING ON THE MOON AT THE TAURUS-LITTROW SCIENTIFIC SITE (NASA's own copy, used and annotated, for the preparation of its final Apollo Science report) Harrison Schmitt, 7-19 December 1972, EVA 1
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