Auction Results: Photography and Photography Books, December 2, 2009 @Bassenge

Galerie Bassenge followed up the solid auction results at Villa Grisebach with a somewhat softer outcome several days later. With a buy-in rate over 37%, the Total Sale Proceeds came in well under the Total High Estimate (Bassenge does not provide an estimate range, just a single estimate number, so this figure is used as the High estimate in our calculations). That said, the Total Sale Proceeds were approximately 100000€ higher than the results of Bassenge's various owner photographs sale earlier in the summer, so perhaps some optimism is warranted.

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

Total Lots: 448
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: 456130€
Total Lots Sold: 282
Total Lots Bought In: 166
Buy In %: 37.05%
Total Sale Proceeds: 356462€

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

Low Total Lots: 443
Low Sold: 280
Low Bought In: 163
Buy In %: 36.79%
Total Low Estimate: 403130€
Total Low Sold: 326302€

Mid Total Lots: 5
Mid Sold: 2
Mid Bought In: 3
Buy In %: 60.00%
Total Mid Estimate: 53000€
Total Mid Sold: 30160€

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 lot 4095, Carl Ferdinand Stelzner, Portrait of Harro Harring, 1848, at 15000€; it was also the top outcome of the sale at 22040€.

Only 47.87% of the lots that sold had proceeds above the estimate. There were a staggering total of 37 surprises in this sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate). For the sake of brevity, the list below only includes the 11 lots that had proceeds above 3000€:

Lot 4005, Leopoldo Alinari, Cathedral and Bapistry in Pisa, 1854, at 7540€
Lot 4006, Leopoldo Alinari, Art reproductions of Raphael frescoes, Siena, 1854, at 5104€
Lot 4020, Ceylon (Skeen & Co), Women and landscapes of Ceylon, 1870s, at 4176€
Lot 4022, China, Panoramic view of Shanghai, 1864, at 7540€
Lot 4025, Sebah and Joaillier, Views of Constantinople, 1880s, at 3248€
Lot 4033, Sylvester Dutton and Vince Michaels, Panoramic view of Canton, 1863, at 12760€
Lot 4131, Aenne Biermann, Self-portrait, 1931, at 11600€
Lot 4133, Ilse Bing, Self portrait with Leica, 1931/1988, at 5104€
Lot 4177, Harold Edgerton, The Turtledove, 1933, at 3248€
Lot 4224, Mangus Hirschfeld, Blocking Berliner Institut fur Sexualwissenschaft, 1933, at 8120€
Lot 4415, Edward Weston, Nautilus Shells, 1947, at 4872€

Complete lot by lot results can be found here.

Galerie Bassenge
Erdener Straße 5a
14193 Berlin

Auction: Photography and Photography Books, December 2, 2009 @Bassenge

Galerie Bassenge continues the German photographs season with its big sale in Berlin later this week. A 1930s vintage Munkacsi image of ice skaters and a 1924 vintage Outerbridge Christmas scene will likely appeal to top end collectors. Overall, there are a total of 448 lots on offer in this sale, with a Total High Estimate of 456130€. (Catalog cover at right, via Galerie Bassenge.)

Here's the breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including 7500€): 443
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): 403130€

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between 7500€ and 35000€): 5
Total Mid Estimate: 53000€

Total High Lots (high estimate above 35000€): 0
Total High Estimate: NA

The top lot by High estimate is lot 4095, Carl Ferdinand Stelzner, Portrait of Harro Harring, 1848, at 15000€.

Here's a list of the photographers who are represented by five or more lots in the sale (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Floris Neususs (9)
August Sander (7)
Leopoldo Alinari (6)
Andreas Groll (6)
Leni Riefenstahl (5)
James Robertson (5)
Woodbury & Page (5)

Images of interest for our collection include:

Lot 4120 Max Baur, Flower images, 1930s
Lot 4173 Imogen Cunningham, Water Hyacinth II, 1910/1060s (the first date is incorrect)
Lot 4212 Miroslav Hak, Female nude, 1950s
Lot 4242 Peter Keetman, Volkswagen factory, 1953/1990s
Lot 4359 Peter Stackpole, Construction of the Bay Bridge, 1936/1980s
Lot 4377 Sasha Stone, Female nude, 1933

The complete lot by lot catalog can be found here.

Photography and Photography Books
December 2nd

Galerie Bassenge
Erdener Straße 5a
14193 Berlin

Auction Results: Photography, June 17, 2009 @Bassenge

The last of the German photography sales happened two weeks ago at Bassenge, and the results were generally below the range of outcomes that have characterized the entire spring season. In this case, the buy in rate was a bit higher than average (above 45%) and the total proceeds were well under half the total High estimate.

The summary statistics are below (all results include the 16% buyer’s premium):

Total Lots: 458
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: 537890€

Total Lots Sold: 250
Total Lots Bought In: 208
Buy In %: 45.41%
Total Sale Proceeds: 223350€

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

Low Total Lots: 448
Low Sold: 247
Low Bought In: 201
Buy In %: 44.87%
Total Low Estimate: 400890€
Total Low Sold: 237974€

Mid Total Lots: 10
Mid Sold: 3
Mid Bought In: 7
Buy In %: 70.00%
Total Mid Estimate: 137000€
Total Mid Sold: 21112€

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

Only 36.80% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range, so there was quite a bit of bottom feeding going on in this sale. That said, there were a total of twenty surprises in this sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 4217, Scowen & Co, Ceylon, 1870s at 2900€
Lot 4221, Johann F.W.T. Roux, Daguerrotypes,1850s at 1508€
Lot 4227, C. Nieuwenhuis, Dutch India, 1880s at 1044€
Lot 4228, Zangaki Brothers, East Africa, 1880s at 1972€
Lot 4229, Maison Bonfils, Egypt/Palestine/Lebanon, 1880s at 1508€
Lot 4278, Sebah & Joaillier, Travel Albums, 1870s at 2784€
Lot 4279, Maison Bonfils, Travel Albums, 1880s at 1740€
Lot 4285, Woodbury & Page, Studio, 1860s at 4060€
Lot 4286, Woodbury & Page, Alfurs of the Moluccan Islands, 1870s at 3016€
Lot 4310, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Water Tower, 1960s/later at 2552€
Lot 4548, August Sander, City Children, Cologne, 1930/1960s at 1508€
Lot 4557, Toni Schneiders, Country Road in Austria, 1950s at 1276€
Lot 4579, Alfred Stieglitz, Horses, 1904 at 2204€
Lot 4593, Josef Sudek, Female Nudes, 1953 at 4176€
Lot 4607, Unknown, Aerial view of Manhattan at night, 1930s at 1392€
Lot 4613, Giorgio Sommer, Vesuvius Eruption, 1906 at 1740€
Lot 4642, Alois Auer, Der polygraphische Apparatat, 1853 at 638€
Lot 4646, Jules Bernard Luys, Les Èmotions chez les sujets, 1887, at 1392€
Lot 4647, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Les Europeens, 1955 at 696€
Lot 4649, Greg Gorman, Inside Life, 1997 at 638€

The top lot, lot 4560, Sean Scully, Mérida, 2001, with an estimate of 30000€, did not sell. Lot 4510, Floris M. Neusüss, Nudogram of pregnant woman, 1967, was the top seller at 8700€.

Complete lot by lot results can be found here. I have grossed up the results in this post to reflect the addition of the buyer's premium.

Galerie Bassenge
Erdener Straße 5a
14193 Berlin-Grunewald

Auction: Photography, June 17, 2009 @Bassenge

Next week in Berlin, the German photography season will come to a close with a massive sale at Bassenge, the largest sale so far this year as measured by lots on offer. Most of the lots are in the lower priced range, the vast majority estimated under 1500€.

There are a total of 458 lots available, with a total High estimate of 537890€. (No catalog cover shot available.)

Here's the breakdown:

Total Low lots (high estimate 7500€ or lower): 448
Total Low estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): 400890€

Total Mid lots (high estimate between 7500€ and 35000€): 10
Total Mid estimate: 137000€

Total High lots (high estimate over 35000€): 0
Total High estimate: NA

For our collection, we liked the following:

Lot 4327, Constantin Brancusi, Orchid in Vase, 1930s
Lot 4343, William Christenberry, 5 cents - Demopolis, Alabama, 1980
Lot 4560, Sean Scully, Merida portfolio, 2001

The lot by lot catalog can be found here.

Photography
June 17th

Galerie Bassenge
Erdener Straße 5a
14193 Berlin-Grunewald

Auction Results Fall 2008: Bassenge, Van Ham, and Lempertz

Three additional German auction houses had their photography sales last week: Galerie Bassenge (Berlin), Van Ham Kunstauktionen (Cologne) and Kunsthaus Lempertz (Cologne). In general, the outcomes were comparable to the rest of the season around the world. The results are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):

Galerie Bassenge

Total Lots: 662
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: 549140 Euros

Total Lots Sold: 427
Total Lots Bought In: 235
Buy In %: 35.50%
Total Sale Proceeds: 428900 Euros

The buy-in rate in this sale is artificially high, as the the photo book lots all sold well at very low prices, which made the numbers for the sale as a whole look better.

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

Low Total Lots: 660
Low Sold: 426
Low Bought In: 234
Buy In %: 35.45%
Total Low Estimate: 530140 Euros
Total Low Sold: 420780 Euros

Mid Total Lots: 2
Mid Sold: 1
Mid Bought In: 1
Buy In %: 50.00%
Total Mid Estimate: 19000 Euros
Total Mid Sold: 8120 Euros

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

All in, this sale earned Bassenge a second place finish among the German houses, behind Villa Grisebach.

Van Ham Kunstauktionen

Total Lots: 422
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: 738440 Euros

Total Lots Sold: 179
Total Lots Bought In: 243
Buy In %: 57.58%
Total Sale Proceeds: 381844 Euros

Not much to say here, just a disappointing outing in a tough market.

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

Low Total Lots: 409
Low Sold: 174
Low Bought In: 235
Buy In %: 57.46%
Total Low Estimate: 542440 Euros
Total Low Sold: 260469 Euros

Mid Total Lots: 12
Mid Sold: 4
Mid Bought In: 8
Buy In %: 66.67%
Total Mid Estimate: 146000 Euros
Total Mid Sold: 61375 Euros

High Total Lots: 1
High Sold: 1
High Bought In: 0
Buy In %: 00.00%
Total High Estimate: 50000 Euros
Total High Sold: 60000 Euros

Kunsthaus Lempertz

Total Lots: 220
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: 315300 Euros

Total Lots Sold: 73
Total Lots Bought In: 147
Buy In %: 66.82%
Total Sale Proceeds: 181932 Euros

With only approximately 30000 Euros of premium, this sale likely didn't break even against its costs. It was the worst outcome of the season (just nosing out Sotheby's London).

The photography lots in the Contemporary Art sale the same day brought in additional proceeds of 117960 Euros (against an estimate of 315300 Euros, with a 61.22% buy-in rate).

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

Low Total Lots: 214
Low Sold: 71
Low Bought In: 143
Buy In %: 57.46%
Total Low Estimate: 366150 Euros
Total Low Sold: 134172 Euros

Mid Total Lots: 6
Mid Sold: 2
Mid Bought In: 4
Buy In %: 66.67%
Total Mid Estimate: 52000 Euros
Total Mid Sold: 47760 Euros

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

Overall, the German fall season was surprisingly weak, and was likely hindered by falling at the end of the run of sales. With potential buyers being much more careful and picky, there just wasn't enough quality material in these sales to generate real interest.

Auction: Soviet War Photography and 19th-21st Century Photography, December 3, 2008 @Bassenge

Galerie Bassenge in Berlin has the largest array of photography material up for sale this season, so for sheer volume of lots, it's the winner. On December 3rd, there will be a total of 662 lots on offer. To reduce buyer fatigue, the lots have been broken up into four separate groups:

Soviet War Photography: 119 lots (separate catalog, at right top)

19th Century Photography: 118 lots (group catalog, at right bottom)
20th Century and Contemporary Photography: 302 lots (group catalog)

Photo Books: 123 lots (group catalog)

The Soviet sale has a broad group of World War II documentary images from Boris Kudojarow, Dimitri Baltermans, Michail Trachman, Jewgeni Chaldej, and Ivan Shagin (among others). The images in the 19th Century and 20th Century/Contemporary sale are virtually all Low end images from a cross section of German, European and other photographers.

Particularly interesting to us were the photo book lots, where it is clear that an expansive photo book collection is being liquidated. Nearly all the lots are group lots, some containing as many as 25 or 30 books in a single lot, each grouped under a common artist or theme. What was interesting to note is that when the special volumes, the first editions, the signed copies and the association items are stripped away, a tremendous library like this one isn't worth much. We wish this sale was local, so we could better examine all the books up for sale and worry less about the problems of getting a heavy shipment to the US done. Where else are you going to find 22 books by Renger-Patzsch in one lot for 300 Euros? Or 15 books by August Sander in one lot for 200 Euros? If you are a photo book collector, you will find a quick skimming of this sale catalog (direct link here) entertaining. It offers a way to build an instant library of significant depth.

The total high estimate for all the sections of the sale is 549140 Euros. Here's the overall price breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate below 7500 Euros): 660

Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): 530140 Euros

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between 7500 and 35000 Euros): 2
Total Mid Estimate: 19000 Euros

Total High Lots (high estimate above 35000 Euros): 0
Total High Estimate: 0 Euros

Beyond the books, surprisingly, there wasn't much to tempt us in this massive sale. Several works by Ulrich Wust were new to us and would fit well with Lewis Baltz and other 1970s American topographic photographers. (See Kaufhalle in Bad Muskau, 1980 at left.)

Soviet War Photography

December 3rd

19th-21st Century Photography

December 3rd

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Galerie Bassenge

Erdener Strasse 5a

14193 Berlin-Grunewald