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

Auction Results: Photographs from the Teutloff Collection, May 24, 2013 @Lempertz

The results of the recent sale of photographs from the Teutloff Collection at Kunsthaus Lempertz in Cologne were decidedly flat. The overall Buy-In rate was nearly 50% and the Total Sale Proceeds came in well below 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: 99
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: €436500
Total Lots Sold: 52
Total Lots Bought In: 57
Buy In %: 47.47%
Total Sale Proceeds: €297520

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

Low Total Lots: 82
Low Sold: 44
Low Bought In: 38
Buy In %: 46.34%
Total Low Estimate: €232500
Total Low Sold: €178570

Mid Total Lots: 17
Mid Sold: 8
Mid Bought In: 9
Buy In %: 52.94%
Total Mid Estimate: €204000
Total Mid Sold: €118950

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 313, Hendrik Kerstens, Bag, 2007, estimated at €15000-20000; it sold for €19520. The top outcome of the sale was lot 343, Jürgen Klauke, Toter Photograph, estimated at €14000-18000, sold at €29280.

100.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate. There were a total of 9 surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 341, Dieter Appelt, Image de la Vie et de la Mort, 1979, estimated at €5000, sold at €10980 (image at right, middle, via Lempertz)
Lot 346, Stefan Moses, Jospeh Beuys, Munchen, 1968/later, estimated at €800, sold at €2070
Lot 348, Cindy Sherman, Ancestor, 1985, estimated at €1500-2000, sold at €4880
Lot 349, Joel-Peter Witkin, La Giovanissima, 2007, estimated at €2000, sold at €13420 (image at right, top, via Lempertz)
Lot 357, Mario Cravo Neto, O Deus da Cabeca, 1988, estimated at €1500, sold at €3900
Lot 358, Mario Cravo Neto, Voodoo Figure, 1988, estimate at €1500, sold at €3900
Lot 359, Adam Nadel, Ohne Titel, 2004, estimated at €2500, sold at €5120
Lot 361, Steve McCurry, India, Kerala, Hundus During Trichur Pooram, 1996, estimated at €1800, sold at €3900
Lot 392, Rudolf Schwarzkogler, Aktion mit Seinem Eigenen Korper, 1966, estimated at €6000, sold at €12200 (image at right, bottom, via Lempertz)

Complete lot by lot results can be found here.

Kunsthaus Lempertz
Neumarkt 3
D-50667 Köln

Auctions: Photography and Contemporary Art, May 24, 2013 @Lempertz

Kunsthaus Lempertz has both a various owner Photography sale and a Contemporary Art sale this Friday in Cologne. The photo auction is headlined by a series of mushroom cloud images from the atomic bomb tests in the Bikini Islands in 1946, but together the two sales cover a wide range of styles and periods. Overall, there are a total of 227 lots of photography on offer, with a Total High Estimate of €556200.

Here's the statistical breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including €7500): 214
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): €389200

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between €7500 and €35000): 13
Total Mid Estimate: €167000

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

The top lot by High estimate is tied between two lots: lot 22, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Portrait Ellen Frank, 1929, and lot 560, Thomas Ruff, Ohne Titel (B. Junger), 1985 (image at right, top, via Lempertz), both estimated at €20000-25000.

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

Joint Army Task Force One (12)
Thomas Struth (5)
Max Baur (4)
Bernd and Hilla Becher (4)
Gisele Freund (4)
Jörg Sasse (4)
Jan Saudek (4)
Ilse Bing (3)
Henri Cartier-Bresson (3)
William Klein (3)
Heinrich Kühn (3)
David LaChapelle (3)
Joel Meyerowitz (3)
Thomas Ruff (3)
Toni Schneiders (3)
Wolfgang Tillmans (3)
Weegee (3)

Other works of interest include lot 110, Jaroslav Rössler, Reflexionswinkel, 1960, estimated at €1500-2000 (image at right, middle, via Lempertz) and lot 196, Jörg Sasse, S-89-07-01. Giessen, 1989, estimated at €1200 (image at right, bottom, via Lempertz).

The complete lot by lot online catalogs can be found here (Photography) and here (Contemporary Art).

Photography
May 24th

Contemporary Art
May 24th

Kunsthaus Lempertz
Neumarkt 3
D-50667 Köln

Auction: Photographs from the Teutloff Collection, May 24, 2013 @Lempertz

In addition to its usual various owner sale, Kunsthaus Lempertz has a single owner photography sale later this week in Cologne drawn from the collection of Dr. H.C. Lutz Teutloff. It's a challenging, risk taking collection, the works connected by the common theme of the human body. The catalog is loosely divided into sections including nudes, tattooed bodies, religion, and various other portraits and collections of bodies, many closer to experimental than classic. Overall, there are a total of 99 lots of photography on offer, with a Total High Estimate of €436500.

Here's the statistical breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including €7500): 82
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): €232500

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between €7500 and €35000): 17
Total Mid Estimate: €204000

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

The top lot by High estimate is lot 313, Hendrik Kerstens, Bag, 2007, estimated at €15000-20000 (image at right, top, via Lempertz).

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

Robert Doisneau (3)
Jürgen Klauke (3)
Dieter Appelt (2)
Roger Ballen (2)
Christian Boltanski (2)
Lucien Clergue (2)
Nan Goldin (2)
Bill Henson (2)
Eikoh Hosoe (2)
Yousuf Karsh (2)
Robert Lebeck (2)
Stefan Moses (2)
Mario Cravo Neto (2)
Eva Schlegel (2)
Valie Export (2)

Other works of interest include lot 343, Jürgen Klauke, Toter Photograph, 1988, estimated at €14000-18000 (image at right, bottom, via Lempertz) and lot 366, Roger Ballen, Puppy Between Feet, 1999, estimated at €2000-3000 (image at right, middle, via Lempertz).

The complete lot by lot online catalog can be found here.

Photographs from the Teutloff Collection
May 24th

Kunsthaus Lempertz
Neumarkt 3
D-50667 Köln

Auction Results: Photography and Contemporary Art, May 30 and June 1, 2011 @Lempertz

The results from the recent Photography and Contemporary Art sales at Kunsthaus Lempertz in Cologne were generally on the soft side. The overall Buy-In rate was over 40% and the Total Sale Proceeds fell meaningfully below 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 our calculations). A pair of winding tower typologies from the Bechers helped to keep the sale above water.

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

Total Lots: 214
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: 540550€
Total Lots Sold: 123
Total Lots Bought In: 91
Buy In %: 42.52%
Total Sale Proceeds: 372370€

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

Low Total Lots: 204
Low Sold: 118
Low Bought In: 86
Buy In %: 42.16%
Total Low Estimate: 315550€
Total Low Sold: 231370€

Mid Total Lots: 7
Mid Sold: 3
Mid Bought In: 4
Buy In %: 57.14%
Total Mid Estimate: 105000€
Total Mid Sold: 47400€

High Total Lots: 3
High Sold: 2
High Bought In: 1
Buy In %: 33.33%
Total High Estimate: 120000€
Total High Sold: 93600€
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The top lot by High estimate was tied between three lots, each estimated at 30000-40000€. Two of the lots were groups of 4 winding tower prints by Bernd and Hilla Becher (each individual image titled by location): lot 508 from 1974-1978, and lot 509 from 1966-1968; lot 508 sold for 38400€ and lot 509 was the top outcome of the sale at 55200€. The third was lot 590, Andreas Gursky, Furkapass, 1989; it did not sell.

78.86% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate. There were a total of 13 surprises across the two sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 5, Wilhelm Schneider, Innenaufnahme Eines Salons, 1860, at 2640€
Lot 13, Rudolph Koppitz, Bewegungsstudie, 1925, at 7440€
Lot 18, Imre Von Santho, Weisses Shantung - Kostum und Weisse Seidenmousselinbluse, 1920s, at 1440€
Lot 23, Friedrich Seidenstucker, Ohne Titel (Zwei Madchen), 1920s, at 3360€
Lot 51, August Sander, Gruppe von Burgermeistern, 1928, at 9000€ (image at right, middle, via Lempertz)
Lot 52, August Sander, Lumpenball, 1920s, at 2640€
Lot 66, Josef Ehm, Akt (Solarisation), 1936, at 2160€
Lot 70, Germaine Krull, Ohne Titel, 1928, at 2160€
Lot 71, Germaine Krull, La Tour Eiffel - Paris, Detail, 1928, at 9600€ (image at right, bottom, via Lempertz)
Lot 83, Karl Hugo Schmolz, Ohne Titel, 1940s, at 1080€
Lot 108, Charlotte March, Op-Art-Mode Von Ungaro, Paris, Fruhjahr, 1963/Later, at 1320€
Lot 118, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Acapulco, Mexico, 1964, at 2640€
Lot 192, Catherine Opie, #20 from the series Freeway, 1994, at 3000€ (image at right, top, via Lempertz)

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

Kunsthaus Lempertz
Neumarkt 3
D-50667 Köln

Auctions: Photography and Contemporary Art, May 30 and June 1, 2011 @Lempertz

Kunsthaus Lempertz has both a various owner Photography sale and a Contemporary Art sale (that includes a handful of photography lots) coming up in Cologne next week. As usual, it's the typical mix of generally lower priced European material we've come to expect. Overall, there are a total of 214 lots of photography on offer across the two sales, with a Total High Estimate of 540550€.
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Here's the breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including 7500€): 204
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): 315550€

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between 7500€ and 35000€): 7
Total Mid Estimate: 105000€

Total High Lots (high estimate above 35000€): 3
Total High Estimate: 120000€

The top lot by High estimate is tied between three lots. Two of the lots are groups of 4 winding tower prints by Bernd and Hilla Becher (each individual image titled by location): lot 508 from 1974-1978, and lot 509 from 1966-1968. The third is lot 590, Andreas Gursky, Furkapass, 1989. Each of the lots is estimated at 30000-40000€.

Here's the list of photographers who are represented by four or more lots in the two sales (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Albert Renger-Patzsch (7)
Umbo (5)
Lucia Moholy (4)
August Sander (4)
Toni Schneiders (4)
Jock Sturges (4)

(Lot 38, Umbo, Unheimliche Strasse, 1928/1975, at 2500€, at right, top, lot 42, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Gemeiner Lowenzahn. Samenstand, 1925-1929, at 3000-4000€, at right, bottom, and lot 193, Tatsumi Orimoto, Untitled from Tire Tube Communication: Mama and Neighbours, 1996, at 1500€, at right, middle, all via Lempertz.)

The complete lot by lot online catalogs can be found here (Photography) and here (Contemporary Art).

Photography
May 30th

Contemporary Art
June 1st

Kunsthaus Lempertz
Neumarkt 3
D-50667 Köln

Auction Results: Photography, with Contemporary Art, December 2 and 4, 2010 @Lempertz

Three lots of winding towers from Bernd and Hilla Becher provided nearly half of the Total Sale Proceeds for photography at the recent sales at Kunsthaus Lempertz in Cologne (one photography auction and one contemporary art auction that included photographs). In an otherwise routine set of sales, these and other smaller surprises helped bring the results in over the Total High Estimate. (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 our calculations).

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

Total Lots: 217

Pre Sale High Total Estimate: 541600€

Total Lots Sold: 128

Total Lots Bought In: 89

Buy In %: 41.01%

Total Sale Proceeds: 601500€
.

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

Low Total Lots: 205

Low Sold: 123

Low Bought In: 82

Buy In %: 40.00%

Total Low Estimate: 354600€

Total Low Sold: 298860€

.

Mid Total Lots: 12

Mid Sold: 5

Mid Bought In: 7

Buy In %: 58.33%

Total Mid Estimate: 187000€

Total Mid Sold: 302640€

.

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 three lots. Each was a group of 4 winding tower prints by Bernd and Hilla Becher (each individual image titled by location): lot 308 from 1966-1973, lot 309 from 1967-1975, and lot 310 from 1966-1973. Each of the lots was estimated at 20000-25000€. Lot 309 was the top outcome of the sale at 138000€; lot 308 sold for 52800€ and lot 310 sold for 91200€.

80.47% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate. There were a total of 20 surprises across the two sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

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Lot 308, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Merthyr Vale Colliery, Shaft 2, Aberavan, South Wales, GB, and three others, 1966-1973, at 52800€

Lot 309, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Fosse L'Archevque, Aniche, France Nord, and three others, 1967-1975, at 138000€

Lot 310, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Glenrhondda Colliery, Treherbert, South Wales, GB, and three others, 1966-1973, at 91200€ (image at right, top, via Lempertz)

Lot 495, Gerhard Richter, Ohne Titel, 1989, at 5160€

Lot 496, Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Foto, 1989, at 4080€

Lot 571, Rudolph Schwarzkogler, 3. Aktion, Wien, 1965, at 9000€

Lot 706, J. Pascal Sebah, Ohne Titel (Ansichten aus Agypten), 1870s, at 3360€

Lot 732, Willy Maywald, Ohne Titel (Stilleben), 1930s, at 1200€

Lot 748, Max Lohr, Ohne Titel, 1930, at 1320€

Lot 749, Max Lohr, Antike, 1930, at 1320€

Lot 762, George Platt Lynes, Ohne Titel, 1939, at 1680€

Lot 783, Erwin Blumenfeld, Ohne Titel, 1943, at 13200€ (image at right, bottom, via Lempertz)

Lot 798, Koichiro Yahagi, Ohne Titel, 1960s, at 1320€

Lot 821, Charlotte March, Gloria, Silberturban, 1966, at 3720€ (image at right, middle, via Lempertz)

Lot 825, Karl Hugo Schmölz, Ford-Werke, Köln, 1940s, at 1440€

Lot 826, Karl Hugo Schmölz, Drathaus, Düsselforf, 1952, at 1440€

Lot 854, Emmet Gowin, Ice Fish, Danville, Virginia, 1971/1973, at 1560€

Lot 868, Jeanloup Sieff, Bottom, 1969/Later, at 5040€

Lot 884, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Tasman Sea, Ngarupupu, and two others, 1982-1990, at 2880€

Lot 885, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Bay of Biscay, Bakio, and two others, 1991, at 3000€

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

Kunsthaus Lempertz
Neumarkt 3
D-50667 Köln

Auctions: Photography, with Contemporary Art, December 2 and 4, 2010 @Lempertz

Kunsthaus Lempertz has both a various owner Photography sale and a Contemporary Art sale that includes photography coming up in Cologne later this week. It's the usual assortment of generally lower end European material, with a selection of works by Polke and the Bechers in the contemporary mix. Overall, there are a total of 217 lots of photography across the two sales, with a Total High Estimate of 541600€.
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Here's the breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including 7500€): 205
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): 354600€

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between 7500€ and 35000€): 12
Total Mid Estimate: 187000€

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

The top lot by High estimate is tied between three lots. Each is a group of 4 winding tower prints by Bernd and Hilla Becher (each individual image titled by location): lot 308 from 1966-1973, lot 309 from 1967-1975, and lot 310 from 1966-1973. Each of the lots is estimated at 20000-25000€.

Here's the list of photographers who are represented by four or more lots in the two sales (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Harry Callahan (4)
Sigmar Polke (4)
Albert Renger-Patzsch (4)
Jan Saudek (4)
Umbo (4)

(Lot 765, Paul Strand, The Barn, Quebec, 1936/1960s, 7500€, at right, top, Lot 844, János Szász, Schulbal - Tanz Im Einklang, 1965, 1500€, at right, middle, and Lot 756, Man Ray, Domaine De Sade II, 1976, 3000-4000€, at right, bottom, all via Lempertz.)

The complete lot by lot online catalogs can be found here (Photography) and here (Contemporary Art).
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Photography
December 2nd

Contemporary Art
December 4th
.
Kunsthaus Lempertz
Neumarkt 3
D-50667 Köln

Auction Results: Photography, with the Vogel Collection and Contemporary Art, May 31, June 1, and June 2, 2010 @Lempertz

The results from the various sales at Kunsthaus Lempertz in Cologne (one photography, one single owner collection, and one contemporary art including photographs) would have been entirely uneventful had it not been for the photographic works in the Vogel Collection sale (most importantly those by the Bechers, Sigmar Polke, and Richard Hamilton), whose proceeds carried the overall outcome up much higher. While the overall buy-in rate across all of the sales reached almost 50%, the Total Sale Proceeds covered the Total High Estimate by a meaningful margin (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 our calculations).

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

Total Lots: 264
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: 883700€
Total Lots Sold: 136
Total Lots Bought In: 128
Buy In %: 48.48%
Total Sale Proceeds: 1077900€

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

Low Total Lots: 233
Low Sold: 112
Low Bought In: 121
Buy In %: 51.93%
Total Low Estimate: 398200€
Total Low Sold: 322860€

Mid Total Lots: 30
Mid Sold: 24
Mid Bought In: 6
Buy In %: 20.00%
Total Mid Estimate: 425500€
Total Mid Sold: 755040€

High Total Lots: 1
High Sold: 0
High Bought In: 1
Buy In %: 100.00%
Total High Estimate: 60000€
Total High Sold: 0€

The top lot by High estimate was lot 951, Andy Warhol, Untitled (The Dirty Half Dozen), 1969, at 50000-60000€; it did not sell. The top outcome was lot 1131, Sigmar Polke, Ohne Titel (Aus Der Serie: Meissenkanne), 1968, at 91200€.

92.42% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate. There were a total of 24 surprises across the three sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 2, D.F. Metcalfe, Ohne Title (Südpazifik), c1870, at 1440€
Lot 25, Heinrich Kühn, Lotte Kühn, 1906, at 15000€
Lot 27, Heinrich Kühn, Hans im Gras, 1906, at 8400€
Lot 38, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Buchenwald im November, 1954, at 5040€
Lot 75, Man Ray, Les Larmes, 1933/1990, at 7080€
Lot 76, Man Ray, Die Marchesa Casati, 1935, at 21000€
Lot 120, Lotte Laska, Köln Hauptbahnhof, 1960, at 1200€
Lot 168, Julius Shulman, House Edgar Kaufman, Colorado Desert, Palm Springs, CA, 1964, at 2640€
Lot 173, Thomas Lüttge, Gropiusbau, Berlin, 1984, at 1080€
Lot 180, Jan Saudek, History of Drinking in Czechoslovakia, 1990, at 2400€
Lot 186, Miroslav Tichy, Ohne Titel, 1950-1980, at 5760€
Lot 195, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Pacific Ocean, Iwate (#302, Aus: Time Exposed), 1986, at 900€
Lot 1010, Bernd & Hilla Becher, Zeche Bonifacius, Essen, 1981-1982, at 81600€
Lot 1011, Bernd & Hilla Becher, Siege La Houve No. 1, Creutzwald, Lorraine, 1967-1974, at 57600€ (image at right, via Lempertz)
Lot 1012, Bernd & Hilla Becher, Siege Cheratte, Puits No.3 , Liege, 1967-1971, at 48000€
Lot 1013, Bernd & Hilla Becher, Grube Camphausen-Franziiska, Fischbach, Saarland, 1968-1979, at 45600€
Lot 1014, Bernd & Hilla Becher, Zeche Germania, Dortmund, 1971-1978, at 52800€
Lot 1131, Sigmar Polke, Ohne Titel (Aus Der Serie: Meissenkanne), 1968, at 91200€
Lot 1139, Sigmar Polke, Ohne Titel, n.d., at 28800€
Lot 1140, Sigmar Polke, Ohne Titel (Aus Der Serie: Paris), 1971, at 37200€
Lot 1183, Richard Hamilton, Bathers (B), 1969, at 6600€
Lot 1184, Richard Hamilton, Bathers (B), 1969, at 7200€
Lot 1185, Richard Hamilton, Bathers (B), 1969, at 14400€ (image at right, top, via Lempertz)

Lot 1186, Richard Hamilton, I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas, 1969, at 26400€

Complete lot by lot results can be found here.

Kunsthaus Lempertz

Neumarkt 3

D-50667 Köln

Auctions: Photography, with the Vogel Collection and Contemporary Art, May 31, June 1, and June 2, 2010 @Lempertz

Kunsthaus Lempertz has a group of sales coming up in Cologne next week, a various owner Photography sale, a single collector sale that includes photography, and a Contemporary Art sale that includes photography. Lempertz does the smart thing of pulling all the photo lots into one printed catalog, so collectors don't have to dig through all the various catalogs to find the photo lots of interest (they are separate online however). Overall, there are a total of 264 photo lots on offer across the three sales, with a Total High Estimate of 883700€.

If you ever said to yourself that you wanted a Sigmar Polke photograph for your collection, now would be a good time to acquire one: there are 16 Polkes in the Vogel sale, the most I have ever seen at auction at one time (Lot 1140, Sigmar Polke, Untitled (from the series: Paris), 1971, at 12000-15000€, image at right, via Lempertz.) There are also a number of excellent Becher winding towers (all groups of 4 images) available (Lot 1010 Zeche Bonifacius, Essen, 1981-1982, at 15000€, image at right, bottom, via Lempertz.)

Here's the breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including 7500€): 233
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): 398200€

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between 7500€ and 35000€): 30
Total Mid Estimate: 425500€

Total High Lots (high estimate above 35000€): 1
Total High Estimate: 60000€

The top lot by High estimate is lot 951, Andy Warhol, Untitled (The Dirty Half Dozen), 1969, at 50000-60000€.

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

Sigmar Polke (16)
Bernd & Hilla Becher (8)
Heinrich Kühn (7)
Albert Renger-Patzsch (7)
August Sander (6)
Nobuyoshi Araki (5)
Candida Höfer (5)
Peter Keetman (5)
Richard Hamilton (4)
Clemens Kalischer (4)
Alfred Stieglitz (4)
Hiroshi Sugimoto (4)
Henri Cartier-Bresson (3)
Robert Doisneau (3)
T. Lux Feininger (3)
Edmund Kesting (3)
August Kreyenkamp (3)
Hedda Hammer Morrison (3)
Man Ray (3)
Leni Riefenstahl (3)
Jeanloup Sieff (3)
Miroslav Tichy (3)
Umbo (3)

The complete lot by lot online catalogs can be found here (Photography), here (Vogel Collection) and here (Contemporary Art).

Photography
May 31st

The Vogel Collection
June 1st

Contemporary Art
June 2nd

Kunsthaus Lempertz
Neumarkt 3
D-50667 Köln

Auction Results: Photography and Contemporary Art, December 4 and 5, 2009 @Lempertz

A few more auction results posts today to continue the end of year catch-up. The results from the pair of sales in December at Kunsthaus Lempertz in Cologne (one photography and one contemporary art including photographs) were an improvement over the results from the sales from the previous summer in terms of total proceeds, but were still uneven: the buy-in rate topped 50% and the Total Sale Proceeds missed the Total High Estimate by a meaningful margin (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 our calculations).

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

Total Lots: 318
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: 633100€
Total Lots Sold: 150
Total Lots Bought In: 168
Buy In %: 52.83%
Total Sale Proceeds: 381282€

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

Low Total Lots: 307
Low Sold: 140
Low Bought In: 167
Buy In %: 54.40%
Total Low Estimate: 482100€
Total Low Sold: 264642€

Mid Total Lots: 11
Mid Sold: 10
Mid Bought In: 1
Buy In %: 9.09%
Total Mid Estimate: 151000€
Total Mid Sold: 116640€

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 321, Bernd und Hilla Becher, Chemische Fabrik Wesseling Bei Koln, 1998, at 15000-20000€; it sold for 15600€. The top outcome of the sale was lot 241, Robert Mapplethorpe, Hyacinth, 1987, at 16800€.

74.67% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate. There were a total of 15 surprises in this sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 25, Alfred Stieglitz, The Street-Design for a Poster, 1903, at 1800€
Lot 27, Robert Demachy, Speed, 1904, at 1020€
Lot 31, Edward Steichen, Rodin-Le Penseur, 1905, at 1680€
Lot 33, Alfred Stieglitz, Horses, 1904, at 1800€
Lot 37, Edward Steichen, The Little Round Mirror, 1906, 2040€
Lot 45, Alfred Stieglitz, Snapshot-From My Window, New York, 1907, at 1800€
Lot 69, Alfred Stieglitz, The Hand of Man, 1902, at 2640€
Lot 72, Alfred Stieglitz, The Terminal, 1892, at 3840€
Lot 74, Alfred Stieglitz, Spring Showers, New York, 1900, at 3000€
Lot 101, Lichtbildwerkstatt Loheland, Ohne Titel (Maske), 1920, at 840€
Lot 199, Umbo, Selbstportrait mit Leica, 1952, at 5040€
Lot 230, Abe Frajndlich, Ilse Bing, 1986, at 3120€
Lot 271, Gunther Forg, Palazzo Della Civilta, Weltausstellung, Rom, 1996, at 1320€
Lot 280, Andreas Gursky, Cheops, 2005, at 2400€
Lot 686, Christopher Williams, Iraq, 1990, at 6000€

Complete lot by lot results can be found here.

Kunsthaus Lempertz
Neumarkt 3
D-50667 Koln

Auctions: Photography and Contemporary Art, December 4 and 5, 2009 @Lempertz

Kunsthaus Lempertz has a pair of sales coming up in Cologne later this week, a various owner Photography sale and a Contemporary Art sale that includes some photography, both conveniently detailed in a single printed catalog. The Photography sale has an extensive selection (72 lots) of Camera Work gravures. Overall, there are a total of 318 lots on offer across the two sales, with a Total High Estimate of 633100€. (Catalog cover at right.)

Here's the breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including 7500€): 307
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): 482100€

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between 7500€ and 35000€): 11
Total Mid Estimate: 151000€

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

The top lot by High estimate is lot 321, Bernd und Hilla Becher, Chemische Fabrik Wesseling Bei Koln, 1998, at 15000-20000€.

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

Edward Steichen (18)
Alfred Stieglietz (14)
Alvin Langdon Coburn (8)
Paul Strand (8)
Baron Adolphe De Meyer (5)
Peter Keetman (5)
Heinrich Kuhn (5)
Albert Renger-Patzsch (5)
Nobuyoshi Araki (4)
Boris Becker (4)
Hans Finsler (4)
Gertrude Kasebier (4)
Herbert List (4)
Robert Mapplethorpe (4)
Toni Schneiders (4)

A few images that would fit well in our collection are below:

Lot 113 Hans Finsler, Kamin Elektrizitatswerk, 1928
Lot 131 Folkwang -Auriga Verlag, Ohne Titel (Pflanzen), 1928-1933
Lot 185 Peter Keetman, Ohne Titel (Strommasten), 1966/Later
Lot 216 Fritz Henle, Manhattan, When the Lights Went on Again in 1945, 1945/Later

The complete lot by lot online catalogs can be found here (Photography) and here (Contemporary Art).

Photography
December 4th

Contemporary Art
December 5th

Kunsthaus Lempertz
Neumarkt 3
D-50667 Koln

Auction Results: Photographie, May 27 and 28, 2009 @Lempertz

The results of Lempertz' recent photography sale in Cologne joined the group of sales clustered at the bottom of the range this season, with a buy-in rate over 50% and total proceeds less than half the total High estimate (there is no total Low estimate in this case, given the way Lempertz provides estimates).

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

Total Lots: 238
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: 648450€

Total Lots Sold: 99
Total Lots Bought In: 139
Buy In %: 58.40%
Total Sale Proceeds: 310704€

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

Low Total Lots: 222
Low Sold: 91
Low Bought In: 131
Buy In %: 59.01%
Total Low Estimate: 460450€
Total Low Sold: 210864€

Mid Total Lots: 16
Mid Sold: 8
Mid Bought In: 8
Buy In %: 50.00%
Total Mid Estimate: 188000€
Total Mid Sold: 99840€

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

71.72% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range. There were a total of four surprises in this sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

• lot 8, Julia Margaret Cameron, Charles Darwin, 1868, at 6000€
• lot 30, August Sander, Jungbauern, 1926/Later, at 2400€
• lot 37, Alexander Stocker, Im Taumel Der Geschwindigkeit!, 1920s, at 840€
• lot 207, Frank Darius, 4711, 1998, at 5880€

Complete lot by lot results can be found here.

Kunsthaus Lempertz
Neumarkt 3
50667 Koln

Auction: Photographie, May 27 and 28, 2009 @Lempertz

Lempertz begins the German photography season with its sales May 27 and 28 in Cologne. The main Photography sale takes place on the 27th, with the Contemporary Art sale (which includes some photography) the following day. A great feature of their printed Photography catalog is that it includes all of the photo lots in the Contemporary Art sale as well, all in one place. So for the purposes of our statistical measures, we've combined the two auctions and will consider them as one big group. Between the two sales, there are a total of 238 lots on offer, with a total High estimate of 648450€. (Catalog cover at right.)

Here's the breakdown (Lempertz often only gives one estimate figure rather than a range, so for our purposes we use this single number as the high estimate):

Total Low lots (high estimate 7500€ or lower): 222
Total Low estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): 460450€

Total Mid lots (high estimate between 7500€ and 35000€): 16

Total Mid estimate: 188000€

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

For our collection, we liked the following:

• Lot 27 Umbo, Gaswerk in San Francisco, 1952
• Lot 185 Carla Van De Puttelaar, Untitled, 2004
• Lot 313 Bernd and Hilla Becher, Gasbehalter, Grube Anna Bei Achen, 1965
• Lot 428 Ola Kolehmainen, See, What You See, 2007
• Lot 580 Hiroshi Sugimoto, Satellite City Towers, 2002

The lot by lot Photography catalog (lots 1-207) can be found here. The Contemporary Art catalog (which contains the other 31 lots of photography) can be found here.

Photographie
May 27

Zeitgenössische Kunst

May 28

Kunsthaus Lempertz

Neumarkt 3

50667 Koln

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: Photographie, December 5, 2008 @Lempertz

The upcoming photography sale at Kunsthaus Lempertz has nearly all (approximately 97%) Low priced material available, so there are plenty of affordable options on offer in Cologne. This sale has a total of 220 lots available, with a total high estimate of 418150 Euros. Here's the overall price breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate below 7500 Euros): 214

Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): 366150 Euros

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between 7500 and 35000 Euros): 6
Total Mid Estimate: 52000 Euros

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

Total High Estimate: 0 Euros

One helpful feature of the Lempertz photography catalog is that they have stripped out the photography lots buried in their Contemporary Art sale and reprinted them in this catalog. This amounts to another 49 lots, with a total additional high estimate of 315300 Euros. We wish other auction houses would follow this practice, so we wouldn't have to sift through all the various Contemporary Art sales, looking for the handful of photography lots mixed in.

For our collection, there are several lots of interest. Three of them are detailed below:

• Lot 74 Heinz Hajek-Halke, Ohne Titel, 1930-1936 (image at right, top) Hajek-Halke made some unusual nudes in his career and we have been looking to find one that would fit well with our collection. This is one of the better images we have seen, in terms of mixing well with the more American nude aesthetic in our collection.
• Lot 119 Germaine Krull, Pont Suspendu De Rotterdam, 1926 (image at right, middle) Images from Krull's Metal series are quite hard to come by, so we expect this one will be highly sought after (assuming it is in decent condition). The graphic qualities and geometric patterns in this work are fantastic. It would fit perfectly in our city and industrial genre.
• Lot 216 Paul Wolff, Flieder, 1931 (image at right, bottom) We already have a pair of Wolff botanicals in our collection (here), but this image would be a good addition to that group. If you are interested in German botanicals from the 1920s and 1930s, but don't want to step up for a vintage Blossfeldt, we would encourage you to look closely at Wolff's work, as it is both high quality and affordable.
• There is also a spectacular Brassai nude (lot 29) in this sale. However, we already have a print of this image in our collection (here)!

In general, we have had good experience with the various services from Lempertz, including condition reports, billing, and packing/shipping to the US. The sale is certainly worth a look.

Photographie
December 5th

Kunsthaus Lempertz
Neumarkt 3
50667 Koln