‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ art breaks record after selling for $1.9 million

A watercolor painting from the book Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone broke a record after being sold for US$1.9 million by auction house Sotheby’s in New York.

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The art by Thomas Taylor that was on the cover of author JK Rowling’s first book was sold last Wednesday (26) and, according to the auction house, this was “the most valuable Harry Potter item ever sold at auction”.

The illustration, which appeared in the debut edition of the novel in 1997, sold for a staggering sum of nearly $2 million after a battle between four bidders that lasted nearly 10 minutes.

Sotheby’s had an estimate selling for $400,000 to $600,000, but it broke the record set for the sale of a first edition copy of the book in 2021 when it sold for $421,000 at Heritage Auctions in Dallas, Texas .

Taylor’s watercolor is a representation of the wizard, with dark hair, round glasses and a lightning-shaped scar, standing near the train bound for Hogwarts. The artist used concentrated watercolors on cold pressed paper and outlined with black Karisma pencil.

This was Taylor’s first professional commission at the age of 23, after being offered to illustrate the character by editor Barry Cunningham. He took two days to complete the artwork and was one of the first to read the manuscript.

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