Aimee Pflieger loves discovering connections between seemingly disparate subjects, and pulling at the threads that photography has woven through culture since its invention.
Aimee Pflieger is a writer, lecturer, and specialist in Photographs.
She began her career in the Works on Paper department at the Eskanazi Museum of Art, where she acted as Cataloguer in the Henry Holmes Smith and Art Sinsabaugh archives. After holding positions at Valerie Carberry Gallery in Chicago and Locks Gallery in Philadelphia, she transitioned to the auction field at the country’s oldest auction house, Freeman’s. There, she acted as Specialist in the Modern & Contemporary Art Department, cultivating particular expertise in 20th century painters and sculptors of the Delaware Valley. In 2009, she catalogued The Lehman Brothers Art Collection, which doubled the pre-sale estimate and featured significant work by Roy Lichtenstein, Bernar Vernet, and Robert Indiana, as well as photographs by Walker Evans, Berenice Abbott and Robert Mapplethorpe. Especially skilled in research, she identified a previously unattributed painting to renowned Indian abstract artist Vasudeo Santu Gaitonde, eventually selling it for $373,000 in 2010. While simultaneously acting as Specialist in 20th Century Art, she established the 200-year-old auction house’s first Photographs department, notably handling the sale of photographs from the Avon Corporate Collection in 2013.
Ms. Pflieger joined Sotheby’s Photographs department in 2015, where she acts as Senior Specialist and is closely involved in providing auction estimates, crafting sale proposals, research, and appraisals. She has been instrumental in important auctions such as Robert Frank: The Americans, The Ruth and Jake Bloom Collection; Photographs from the Ginny Williams Collection; The David H. Arrington Collection of Ansel Adams Masterworks; Ansel Adams: A Legacy, Photographs from Meredith Collection and Pier 24 Photography from the Pilara Family Foundation Sold to Benefit Charitable Organizations, which achieved over 13 million dollars and ranks as the 3rd highest single-owner sale series of photographs ever staged. Most recently, she catalogued and researched Man Ray’s Noire et blanche, which was the top photography lot of 2025 at $2.8 million.
Ms. Pflieger holds a Master of Arts in Art History with a specialization in the History of Photography from Indiana University. She is a USPAP certified appraiser. Her independently produced podcast, The Expert Eye (airing since 2021) focuses on the history of photography and the development of the photographs market. She has appeared for over 10 years as an expert appraiser on PBS’ Antiques Roadshow and is responsible for appraising the highest-valued photographs in the show’s history.
Producer Iván Suro and Aimee podcast from Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn.
Portrait by Ian Trimmer Rutter.
Follow our journey down the rabbit holes of photo history.
