Auction Results: Photographie, June 14, 2013 @Van Ham

The outcomes at the photography sale at Van Ham in Cologne last week were generally uneventful. While there were a number of positive surprises, an overall Buy-In rate near 50% and the failure of the two top lots to find buyers dampened the aggregate results. Overall, the Total Sale Proceeds fell meaningfully below the pre-sale estimate. (Van Ham does not provide an estimate range in many cases, just a single estimate number, so this figure is used as the High estimate in our calculations).

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

Total Lots: 216
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: €566800
Total Lots Sold: 114
Total Lots Bought In: 102
Buy In %: 47.22%
Total Sale Proceeds: €322460

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

Low Total Lots: 201
Low Sold: 95
Low Bought In: 106
Buy In %: 52.74%
Total Low Estimate: €306800
Total Low Sold: €218080

Mid Total Lots: 13
Mid Sold: 7
Mid Bought In: 6
Buy In %: 46.15%
Total Mid Estimate: €140000
Total Mid Sold: €104380

High Total Lots: 2
High Sold: 0
High Bought In: 2
Buy In %: 100.00%
Total High Estimate: €120000
Total High Sold: €0

The top lot by High estimate was tied between two lots: lot 1111, Christian Boltanski, Jewish School, Große Hamburger Straße, Berlin, 1939, 1993, and lot 1221, Candida Höfer, Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires, 2006, both estimated at €50000-60000; neither lot sold. The top outcome of the sale was lot 1108, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Industriebauten, estimated at €15000-18000, sold at €43750

88.60% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate. There were a total of 15 surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 1103, David Hockney, Sur le Motif, 1974, estimated at €1000, sold at 2€000 (image at right, middle, via Van Ham)
Lot 1104, Luigi Ghirri, Atelier Giorgio Morandi, 1989/1990, estimated at €3000, sold at €10000 (image at right, top, via Van Ham)
Lot 1108, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Industriebauten, estimated at €15000-18000, sold at €43750
Lot 1122, August Sander, Antlitz der Zeit, 1929, estimated at €1500-2000, sold at €8130
Lot 1137, Lee Friedlander, Baltimore Maryland, 1962, estimated at €2000-3000, sold at €6250
Lot 1140, Jeanloup Sieff, Portrait avec Violette, estimated at €1200, sold at €3000
Lot 1175, Luigi Ghirri, Ferrara, 1979, estimated at €2000, sold at €6250
Lot 1185, Thomas Struth, Paradies, 2004, estimated at €1200, sold at €4380
Lot 1197, Ludwig Windstosser, Schallplatten, 1955, estimated at €1800, sold at €4130
Lot 1271, Claus Goedicke, III-17, 1995, estimated at €300, sold at €750 (image at right, bottom, via Van Ham)
Lot 1286, Felix Bonfils, Album mit Aufnahmen aus Indien, Japan, Vietnam, Israel, Syrien, Libanon, 1880-1900, estimated at €800, sold at €1750
Lot 1295, Siegfried Lauterwasser, Wasser, 1948, estimated at €600, sold at €5380
Lot 1306, Albert Renger-Patzsch, 8 Anischtskarten, 1929, estimated at €800, sold at €2000
Lot 1310, August Sander, Madchenportrait, 1925, estimated at €800-1000, sold at €5000
Lot 1320, Karl Hugo Schmolz, Ohne Titel, 1950s, estimated at €800, sold at €2500

Complete lot by lot results can be found here.

Van Ham Kunstauktionen
Schönhauser Straße 10 - 16
D - 50968 Köln

Auction Results: Crossing America: Photographs from the Consolidated Freightways Collection, Part I, April 7, 2011 @Christie's

The sale of Part I of the Consolidated Freightways corporate collection at Christie's last week was an all-around success, with better than expected performance at all price points. The overall Buy-In rate was under 15%, there were plenty of positive surprises, and the Total Sale Proceeds covered the High estimate by more than $400K. Once again, all of the top 10 lots found buyers.

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

Total Lots: 130
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: $973000
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: $1404000
Total Lots Sold: 111
Total Lots Bought In: 19
Buy In %: 14.62%
Total Sale Proceeds: $1838438
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Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post, here):

Low Total Lots: 100

Low Sold: 84

Low Bought In: 16

Buy In %: 16.00%

Total Low Estimate: $630000

Total Low Sold: $659188

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Mid Total Lots: 28

Mid Sold: 25

Mid Bought In: 3

Buy In %: 10.71%

Total Mid Estimate: $614000

Total Mid Sold: $910250

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High Total Lots: 2

High Sold: 2

High Bought In: 0

Buy In %: 0.00%

Total High Estimate: $160000
Total High Sold: $269000

The top lot by High estimate was lot 293, Robert Mapplethorpe, Flag, 1987, at $70000-90000; it was also the top outcome of the sale at $158500.
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77.48% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range, and there were a total of 14 surprises in this sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 201, Ansel Adams, Coastal Road, c1953, at $23750

Lot 203, Robert Adams, Golden, Colorado, c1974, at $18750

Lot 216, Garry Winogrand, Untitled, 1960, at $40000 (image at right, top, via Christie's)

Lot 218, William Garnett, Train Crossing Desert, Kelso, CA, 1974, at $32500

Lot 219, William Garnett, Waterhole on the Santa Fe Trail with Cattle Tracks, New Mexico, 1975, at $11250 (image at right, middle, via Christie's)

Lot 224, Robert Adams, Lakewood, 1973, at $18750

Lot 244, David Hockney, Merced River, Yosemite Valley, September 1982, 1982, at $40000 (image at right, bottom, via Christie's)

Lot 251, Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, 1936, at $134500

Lot 253, Russell Lee, Oil field worker drinking water, Kilgore, Texas, April 1939, 1939, at $13750
Lot 261, Ben Shahn, Men with Hats, Listening, 1934, at $15000

Lot 262, Weegee, Coney Island, 1940/1950s, at $32500

Lot 294, Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #55, 1980, at $134500
Lot 317, Marion Post Wolcott, Migrant Vegetable Pickers Waiting in Line to be Paid near Homestead, Florida, 1939, at $12500

Lot 319, Garry Winogrand, World's Fair, New York City, 1964/Later, at $23750

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Complete lot by lot results can be found here.

Christie's

20 Rockefeller Plaza

New York, NY 10020