A nearly 50% Buy-In rate was the undoing of the recent Photography and Contemporary Art sales at Kunsthaus Lempertz in Cologne. While a dozen positive surprises helped to make up some of the difference, the gap was just too great with so many lots failing to find buyers. In the end, the Total Sale Proceeds fell below the aggregate pre-sale high estimate by a decent margin.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 193 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | NA |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | €610100 |
| Total Lots Sold | 100 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 93 |
| Buy In % | 48.19% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | €441750 |
Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 177 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 89 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 88 |
| Low Buy In % | 49.72% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | €377100 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | €234174 |
| Mid Total Lots | 15 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 10 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 5 |
| Mid Buy In % | 33.33% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | €183000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | €157976 |
| 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 | €50000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | €49600 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 471, Thomas Struth, Paradise 20, Bayrischer Wald, 1999, estimated at €40000-50000 (image in preview post); it was also the top outcome of the sales at €49600.
Only 77.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range, but there were a total of 12 surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Lempertz):
Lot 3, Samuel Boote and Samuel Rimathé, Views of Buenos Aires (Deutsches Hospital et al.) and Argentina, 1890s, estimated at €1000, sold at €2108
Lot 5, Wilhelm von Gloeden, Untitled (Portrait of a boy), c1900, estimated at €800, sold at €2852
Lot 20, Umbo, Portfolio, 1927-1930/1980, estimated at €10000, sold at €23560
Lot 70, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Untitled (Schubert & Salzer, Ingolstadt), 1950s, estimated at €1200, sold at €2480
Lot 91, Arno Fischer, New York, Staten Island Ferry, 1978/1998, estimated at €800, sold at €1984
Lot 93, Will McBride, Konrad Adenauer (4 prints), 1963, estimated at €2000, sold at €4464
Lot 95, Barbara Klemm, Leonid Brezhnev, Willy Brandt, Bonn, 1973/1997, estimated at €1000, sold at €3720
Lot 96, Barbara Klemm, Erich Honecker, Helmut Kohl, Bonn, 1987/1997, estimated at €1000, sold at €2728
Lot 101, Robert Häusser, Das Boot, 1972/later, estimated at €900, sold at €1860
Lot 126, Bill Ray, Faye Dunaway & Steve McQueen (at the set of ‘Thomas Crown Affair’), 1967/later, estimated at €2000-2500, sold at €5456
Lot 164, Nan Goldin, Stromboli at Dawn, 1993, estimated at €1200, sold at €3472
Lot 166, Thomas Struth, Paradies (portfolio of 6 prints), 2004, estimated at €1000, sold at €2604
The complete lot by lot results can be found here (Photography), here (Contemporary Art I), and here (Contemporary Art II).
