The overall photo results at the Photography and Contemporary Art sales at Lempertz in Cologne last week were largely uneventful. Two out of the three top photo lots failed to sell, allowing the top lot honors to fall to an Arnulf Rainer overpainted self portrait. The overall Buy-In rate for photography came in at roughly 38%, with the softness seen more at the higher price ranges, so even with more than a dozen generally low priced surprises, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography (of €580K) dropped below the aggregate pre-sale low estimate.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 246 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | €685400 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | €916400 |
| Total Lots Sold | 154 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 92 |
| Buy In % | 37.40% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | €581490 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 229 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 145 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 84 |
| Low Buy In % | 36.68% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | €586400 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | €439740 |
| Mid Total Lots | 17 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 9 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 8 |
| Mid Buy In % | 47.06% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | €330000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | €141750 |
| Total High Lots | 0 |
| Total High Lots Sold | NA |
| Total High Lots Bought In | NA |
| High Buy In % | NA |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | €0 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | €0 |
The top lot by High estimate was tied between three lots: lot 711, William Eggleston, Untitled (Boy in Red Sweater), 1971/1996, estimated at €20000-30000, lot 24, Andreas Gursky, Flughafen, Düsseldorf, 1985, estimated at €25000-30000, and lot 416, Gerhard Richter, Mao, 1968, estimated at €20000-30000; the Eggleston print found a buyer at €25200, while the other two lots didn’t sell. The top photography outcome of the sales was lot 343, Arnulf Rainer, mit Flamme, 1971, estimated at €10000-15000, sold at €30420 (image above, via Lempertz.)
81.82% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range, and there were 13 positive surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Lempertz):
Lot 343, Arnulf Rainer, mit Flamme, 1971, estimated at €10000-15000, sold at €30420
Lot 509, August Sander, Die Frau des Malers, 1934/later, estimated at €1500-2000, sold at €5796
Lot 525, Herbert List, Classical Head of a Youth, Athens, 1939/posthumous, estimated at €800-1000, sold at €2016
Lot 542, Alfred Ehrhardt, Muscheln und Schnecken (12 prints), 1938, estimated at €1200-1500, sold at €4032
Lot 574, Dr. Paul Wolff & Alfred Tritschler, Untitled, 1930s, estimated at €800-1000, sold at €3276
Lot 584, Mario Giacomelli, Untitled (from the series: Io non ho mani che mi accarezzino il volto), 1961-1963/1970, estimated at €1000-1500, sold at €3276
Lot 638, Nan Goldin, Selfportrait after Finger Operation, Berlin, 1991, estimated at €2000-3000, sold at €6930
lot 641, Barbara Klemm, Fall der Mauer, Berlin, 10. November 1989, 1989/later, estimated at €2000-3000, sold at €6174
Lot 645, Greg Gorman, Echo in Sand, Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Utah, 1992, estimated at €1500-2000, sold at €4032
Lot 651, Jan Saudek, Monique, c1993, estimated at €1000-1200, sold at €2520
Lot 690, Thomas Ruff, 16H30M/-50°, 1990/1994, estimated at €800-1000, sold at €2772
Lot 699, Astrid Klein, Untitled, 2002, estimated at €800-1000, sold at 2016
Lot 717, Tom Wood, Towards Netherton (from the series: Bus Odyssey), 1989/later, estimated at €1200-1500, sold at €3024
The complete lot by lot results can be found here (Photography), here (Contemporary Art Evening), and here (Contemporary Art Day).
