Auction Results: Photography and Contemporary Art, May 31 and June 1, 2017 @Lempertz

With a Buy-In rate over 40%, the recent Photography and Contemporary Art sales at Kunsthaus Lempertz in Cologne struggled to generate momentum. A decent number of positive surprises added some energy, but the Total Sale Proceeds ended up falling below the aggregate pre-sale high estimate.

The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 221
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate NA
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate €641700
Total Lots Sold 130
Total Lots Bought In 91
Buy In % 41.18%
Total Sale Proceeds €428414

Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 205
Total Low Lots Sold 122
Total Low Lots Bought In 83
Low Buy In % 40.49%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots €375700
Total Proceeds from Low Lots €291642
Mid Total Lots 14
Total Mid Lots Sold 7
Total Mid Lots Bought In 7
Mid Buy In % 50.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots €156000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots €77252
Total High Lots 2
Total High Lots Sold 1
Total High Lots Bought In 1
High Buy In % 50.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots €110000
Total Proceeds from High Lots €59520

The top lot by High estimate was lot 23, August Sander, The painter Heinrich Hoerle, 1928/before 1953, estimated at €50000-70000 (image in preview post). It was also the top outcome of the sales at €59250.

Only 73.83% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range, but there were a total of 11 surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Lempertz):

Lot 5, Wilhelm von Gloeden, Untitled, c1900, estimated at €800, sold at €3348

Lot 6, Guglielmo (Wilhelm) Plüschow, Untitled, c1895, estimated at €800, sold at €4464

Lot 8, Guglielmo (Wilhelm) Plüschow, Untitled, c1895, estimated at €800, sold at €1612

Lot 9, Guglielmo (Wilhelm) Plüschow, Untitled, c1895, estimated at €800, sold at €5704

Lot 24, August Sander, Cinema Capitol, Cologne, c1930, estimated at €3500, sold at €16120

Lot 56, André Kertész, Chez Mondrian, Paris, 1926/1980s, estimated at €1500, sold at €3224

Lot 60, Hedda Hammer Morrison, China, 1933-1946, estimated at €1000-1200, sold at €5704

Lot 61, Hedda Hammer Morrison, Huà Shan, 1935, estimated at €800-1000, sold at €5952

Lot 124, Arno Fischer, Müritz, DDR, 1956/before 1998, estimated at €800, sold at €1612

Lot 138, Jock Sturges, Angela in Paris, France, 1984/1989, estimated at €900, sold at €1860

Lot 184, Jimmy Nelson, Idrish, Khairatkan. Nurkairath & Baskakhkan Ulaankhus, Bayan Oglii, Mongolia, 2011, estimated at €3000-4000, sold at €8680

The complete lot by lot results can be found here (Photography), here (Contemporary Art I), and here (Contemporary Art II).

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Read more about: André Kertész, Arno Fischer, August Sander, Guglielmo (Wilhelm) Plüschow, Hedda Hammer Morrison, Jimmy Nelson, Jock Sturges, Wilhelm von Gloeden, Kunsthaus Lempertz

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