An overly large Buy-In rate was the dragging force on the photography sales at Kunsthaus Lempertz in Cologne last week. Nearly 50% of the lots failed to find buyers, and without enough positive surprises to pick up the slack, the Total Sale Proceeds fell well under the pre-sale estimate.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 215 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | NA |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | €645400 |
| Total Lots Sold | 109 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 106 |
| Buy In % | 49.30% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | €422716 |
Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 200 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 102 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 98 |
| Low Buy In % | 49.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | €390400 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | €276096 |
| Mid Total Lots | 13 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 5 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 8 |
| Mid Buy In % | 61.54% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | €145000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | €53940 |
| Total High Lots | 2 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 2 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 0 |
| High Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | €110000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | €101680 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 560, Thomas Demand, Junior Suite, 2012, estimated at €50000-70000; it was also the top outcome of the sales at €57040.
76.14% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 5 surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Lempertz):
Lot 55, Cecil Beaton, Soapsuds Group at the Living Posters Ball, 1930/later, estimated at €1400-1600, sold at €3596
Lot 128, John Dominis, Steve McQueen in a Black Jaguar at Studio, CA, 1963/later, estimated at €1100, sold at €3224
Lot 135, Christer Strömholm, Paris, 1962/later, estimated at €1000, sold at €10540
Lot 152, Gerard Fieret, Selbsportrait, 1970, estimated at €1200, sold at €2852
Lot 616, Rudolph Schwarzkogler, 3. Aktion, Wien, 1965, estimated at €3000, sold at €17360
Complete lot by lot results can be found here (Photography), here (Contemporary Art I), and here (Contemporary Art II).
