Auction Results: Photography, December 2, 2022 @Lempertz

A Buy-In rate above 50% muted the results from the Photography sale at Lempertz in Cologne last week. The top lot Albert Renger-Patzsch image failed to sell, and a handful of positive surprises didn’t generate enough momentum to improve the numbers much. When the dust settled, the Total Sale Proceeds of roughly €250K came in well below the aggregate pre-sale high estimate.

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

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 169
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate €388300
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate €504000
Total Lots Sold 84
Total Lots Bought In 85
Buy In % 50.30%
Total Sale Proceeds €252567

Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions). Given recent currency fluctuations, we have once again re-adapted our local currency thresholds to match roughly $10000 and $50000 break points between categories.

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 163
Total Low Lots Sold 81
Total Low Lots Bought In 82
Low Buy In % 50.31%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots €346000
Total Proceeds from Low Lots €207837
Mid Total Lots 5
Total Mid Lots Sold 3
Total Mid Lots Bought In 2
Mid Buy In % 40.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots €88000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots €44730
Total High Lots 1
Total High Lots Sold 0
Total High Lots Bought In 1
High Buy In % 100.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots €70000
Total Proceeds from High Lots €0

The top lot by High estimate was lot 528, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Das Bäumchen, 1929, estimated at €50000-70000; it did not sell. The top outcome of the sale was lot 513, Karl Blossfeldt, Acer pensylvanicum (Striped maple), 1915-1925, estimated at €25000-30000, sold at €23940 (image above via Lempertz).

78.57% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range, and there were a total of 7 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Lempertz):

Lot 519, Hugo Erfurth, Renée Sintenis, 1924, estimated at €3000-4000, sold at €15120

Lot 536, Umbo, Tea for two (from the series: Himmelskamera), 1936/1937, estimated at €2000-2500, sold at €8190

Lot 602, Barbara Klemm, An der Mauer, Berlin-Kreuzberg, 1977/later, estimated at €1200-1500, sold at €5040

Lot 603, Barbara Klemm, Alexanderplatz, Ost-Berlin/DDR, 1970/later, estimated at €1200-1500, sold at €4284

Lot 621, Barbara Klemm, Leonid Breschnew, Willy Brandt, Staatsbesuch, Bonn, 1973/later, estimated at €1500-2000, sold at €4284

Lot 637, Jan Saudek, Life, 1966/later, estimated at €1200-1500, sold at €3024

Lot 643, Anton Corbijn, Naomi Campbell (lips), London, 1993, estimated at €5000-6000, sold at €12600

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

Send this article to a friend

Read more about: Anton Corbijn, Barbara Klemm, Hugo Erfurth, Jan Saudek, Karl Blossfeldt, Umbo (Otto Umbehr), Kunsthaus Lempertz

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.

Recent Articles

Auction Results: Post-War to Present, March 13, 2024 @Christie’s

Auction Results: Post-War to Present, March 13, 2024 @Christie’s

The results for the photography included in the recent Post-War to Present sale at Christie’s in New York were largely uneventful. The top lots (from Richard Prince, Cindy Sherman, and ... Read on.

Sign up for our weekly email newsletter