A group of 70 portraits by August Sander, printed by Gunther Sander in the early 1960s and sold as a single lot, soared to a price of nearly €950K, covering up what was otherwise a relatively soft Photographie sale at Grisebach in Berlin last week. There were plenty of bargains to be had, with just 51% of the lots that sold selling in or above their estimate ranges. The overall Buy-In rate came in at a respectable 21% and the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly €1.4M) landed well above the high end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 207 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | €773900 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | €1171500 |
| Total Lots Sold | 162 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 45 |
| Buy In % | 21.74% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | €1420870 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 191 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 147 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 44 |
| Low Buy In % | 23.04% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | €480500 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | €331245 |
| Mid Total Lots | 15 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 14 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 1 |
| Mid Buy In % | 6.67% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | €191000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | €140625 |
| Total High Lots | 1 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 1 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 0 |
| High Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | €500000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | €949000 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 2149, August Sander, 70 Portraits from “Menschen des 20. Jahrhunderts”, 1912-1932/1961-1963, estimated at €300000-500000; it was also the top outcome of the sale at €949000 (image above, via Grisebach).
Only 51.23% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 8 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Grisebach):
Lot 2076, Hill & Adamson, John Blackie, Publisher, Edinburgh/Jeanie Wilson, Newhaven, 1843, 1845, estimated at €2000-3000, sold at €12500
Lot 2120, Arnold Newman, Alfred Krupp, Essen, 1963/later, estimated at €1000-1500, sold at €4750
Lot 2124, Paul Outerbridge, Christmas Tree Ornament, New York, 1937, estimated at €3000-4000, sold at €10000
Lot 2157, Otto Steinert, Grand Palais 1/Grand Palais 2, 1955, 1956, estimated at €4000-6000, sold at €13750
Lot 2194, Edward Weston & Margrethe Mather, The Marion Morgan Dancers, 1920, estimated at €6000-8000, sold at €37500
Lot 2195, Joel-Peter Witkin, Poet: From a Collection of Relics and Ornaments, Berlin, 1986, estimated at €1500-2000, sold at €4375
Lot 2196, Joel-Peter Witkin, Canova’s Venus, NYC, 1982, estimated at €1500-2000, sold at €9375
Lot 2199, Wolff & Tritschler, Railway, c1926, estimated at €1000-1500, sold at €3125
Complete lot by lot results can be found here.
