Auction Results: Photography and Contemporary Art, May 24, 2013 @Lempertz

The results from the Photography and Contemporary Art sales on May 24th at Kunsthaus Lempertz in Cologne were solidly on the mark. While the overall Buy-In rate was over 35%, there were enough positive surprises to keep the Total Sale Proceeds near the estimate target. Lempertz does not provide an estimate range in most cases, just a single estimate number, so this figure is used as the High estimate in the calculations.

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

Total Lots: 227
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: €556200
Total Lots Sold: 143
Total Lots Bought In: 84
Buy In %: 37.00%
Total Sale Proceeds: €471590

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

Low Total Lots: 214
Low Sold: 136
Low Bought In: 78
Buy In %: 36.45%
Total Low Estimate: €389200
Total Low Sold: €336170

Mid Total Lots: 13
Mid Sold: 7
Mid Bought In: 6
Buy In %: 46.15%
Total Mid Estimate: €167000
Total Mid Sold: €135420

High Total Lots: 0
High Sold: NA
High Bought In: NA
Buy In %: NA
Total High Estimate: €0
Total High Sold: NA

The top lot by High estimate was tied between two lots: lot 22, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Portrait Ellen Frank, 1929, (image at right, top, via Lempertz), and lot 560, Thomas Ruff, Ohne Titel (B. Junger), 1985, both estimated at €20000-25000; the Moholy-Nagy was the top outcome of the sale at €52460, while the Ruff did not sell.

86.01% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate. There were a total of 18 surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 1, Wilhelm Schneider, Spiegel und Konsole Eines Salons, 1860, estimated at €1200, sold at €5120
Lot 8, Eugene Atget, Marche au Timbres, 1898, estimated at €1800, sold at €3660
Lot 19, Josef Tokayer, Ohne Titel (Treppenhaus des Bauhausgebaudes in Dessau), 1928-1931, estimated at €1800-2000, sold at €4880
Lot 22, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Portrait Ellen Frank, 1929, estimated at €20000-25000, sold at €52460
Lot 25, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Ohne Titel (Maschinendetail), 1920, estimated at €1500, sold at €3660
Lot 59, Anonyme, Hochseilartisten am Heumarkt, Koln, 1946, estimated at €1200, sold at €4800
Lot 61, Edmund Kesting, Kameramann Konstantin Kesting, 1948, estimated at €1200, sold at €2440 (image at right, bottom, via Lempertz)
Lot 69, Otto Steinert, Junge Schauspielerin, 1949, estimated at €1200-1500, sold at €4640
Lot 78, Rene Burri, Rio de Janeiro, 1960/1998, estimated at €1000, sold at €2560
Lot 86, Erwin Blumenfeld, Decolete, 1952/later, estimated at €1600, sold at €3900
Lot 111, Heinz Hajek-Halke, Verbrannte Barmherzigkeit, 1969, estimated at €600, sold at €1460
Lot 120, Robert Lebeck, Joseph Beuys und familie auf der Documenta in Kassel, 1968/later, estimated at €800, sold at €3900
Lot 133, Gundula Schulze Eldowy, Tamerlan, Berlin, 1984, estimated at €1500, sold at €3170
Lot 137, Klaus Frahm, Judisches Museum, Berlin, 1998, estimated at €1000-1200, sold at €2810
Lot 168, Joint Army Task Force One Photo, The Test Baker Column, 1946, estimated at €1000, sold at €6340
Lot 169, Joint Army Task Force One Photo, Close-up View of Wall of Water after the Explosion of the Atomic Bomb, 1946, estimated at €1000, sold at €7080 (image at right, middle, via Lempertz)
Lot 175, Bernd und Hilla Becher, Anonyme Skulpturen, 1970, estimated at €1000, sold at €2810
Lot 187, Bernd und Hilla Becher, Siegener Strasse, Gosenbach, 1960, estimated at €700, sold at €1590

Complete lot by lot results can be found here (Photography) and here (Contemporary Art).

Kunsthaus Lempertz
Neumarkt 3
D-50667 Köln