While the top lot did sell and a number of positive surprises dotted Villa Grisebach’s recent Modern and Contemporary Photographs sale in Berlin, these weren’t enough to compensate for a too-high Buy-In rate that topped 40%. As a result, the Total Sale Proceeds failed to clear even the low end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 234 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | €716900 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | €992600 |
| Total Lots Sold | 138 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 96 |
| Buy In % | 41.03% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | €634311 |
Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 213 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 127 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 86 |
| Low Buy In % | 40.38% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | €513600 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | €303686 |
| Mid Total Lots | 18 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 9 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 9 |
| Mid Buy In % | 50.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | €309000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | €204375 |
| Total High Lots | 3 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 2 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 1 |
| High Buy In % | 33.33% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | €170000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | €126250 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 2188, Peter Beard, Andy Warhol at Home in Montauk, Church Estate, New York, 1972/2002, estimated at €50000-70000; it was also the top outcome of the sale at €70000 (image in preview post).
95.65% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 11 surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Villa Grisebach):
Lot 2004, Gertrud Arndt, Negative Portrait of Wera Meyer-Waldeck, Dessau, 1930, estimated at €10000-15000, sold at €52500
Lot 2021, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Canteen for workers building the Hotel Metropol, Moscow, 1954/later, estimated at €2000-3000, sold at €7000
Lot 2054, Florence Henri, Self portrait, Paris, 1928/1974, estimated at €1000-1200, sold at €2750
Lot 2071, Chris Killip, Crabs, Skinningrove, North Yorkshire, 1984/2008, estimated at €1000-1500, sold at €4000
Lot 2121, Heinrich Riebesehl, Algermissen (Hildeshein), 1977, estimated at €1200-1400, sold at €6250
Lot 2132, Werner Rohde, Wachskopf, 1928, estimated at €1500-2000, sold at €6000
Lot 2134, Tata Ronkholz, Trinkhalle No. 8, 1977, estimated at €2500-3500, sold at €9750
Lot 2135, Tata Ronkholz, Dusseldorf-Gerresheim, Linienstrasse 141, 1977, estimated at €2500-3500, sold at €9375
Lot 2149, Anton Stankowski, Schornstein, 1930/later, estimated at €500-700, sold at €3750
Lot 2183, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Elevated railway station, Werther Brucke, Wuppertal, 1972, estimated at €1000-1500, sold at €3500
Lot 2219, Julius Shulman and Juergen Nogai, Glass House, New Canaan, Connecticut, 2006, estimated at €1000-1500, sold at €3500
Complete lot by lot results can be found here.
