Auction Results: Photography, June 1, 2022 @Lempertz

A Buy-In rate above 50% dampened the results from the Photography sale at Lempertz in Cologne last week. The top lot Willi Ruge parachute jump image failed to sell, and the rest of the sale didn’t generate enough momentum to improve the outcome. When the dust settled, the Total Sale Proceeds of roughly €260K came in meaningfully below the aggregate pre-sale high estimate.

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

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 178
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate €391600
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate €498600
Total Lots Sold 87
Total Lots Bought In 91
Buy In % 51.12%
Total Sale Proceeds €263718

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 171
Total Low Lots Sold 85
Total Low Lots Bought In 86
Low Buy In % 50.29%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots €384600
Total Proceeds from Low Lots €244818
Mid Total Lots 7
Total Mid Lots Sold 2
Total Mid Lots Bought In 5
Mid Buy In % 71.43%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots €114000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots €18900
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 lot 529, Willi Ruge, Photo of myself at the moment of my Jump, 1931, estimated at €30000-40000; it did not sell. The top outcome of the sale was tied between two lots: lot 642, Anton Corbijn, Dave Gahan, Hamburg, 1992, and lot 643, Anton Corbijn, Bryan Ferry, Miami, 1992, both estimated at €5000-6000, and both sold at €11340 (images above via Lempertz).

83.91% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range, and there were a total of 6 positive surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Lempertz):

Lot 500, John Anderson/Anonymous, Roma Antica. Roma Moderna (2 albums), 1860s/1870s, estimated at €1800-2000, sold at €4032

Lot 501, Jean Pascal Sébah, Panorama of Constantinople from the Galata Tower, 1870s/1880s, estimated at €800-1000, sold at €2268

Lot 502, Wilhelm von Gloeden, Untitled, c1895, estimated at €1200-1500, sold at €4250

Lot 520, Anonymous, Untitled (Bauhaus Dessau), 1922-1932, estimated at €600-800, sold at €3024

Lot 531, Wolf Strache, Deutschland-Ausstellung in Berlin, 1938/1983, estimated at €900-1200, sold at €3024

Lot 636, Jan Saudek, Life, 1966/later, estimated at €1000-1500, sold at €3276

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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Read more about: Anton Corbijn, Jan Saudek, Jean Pascal Sébah, Wilhelm von Gloeden, Wolf Strache, Kunsthaus Lempertz

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