Auction Results: Ilse Bing, November 16, 2009 @Millon

Even though the results of the major Ilse Bing photography sale at Millon in Paris topped the Total High Estimate for the sale, I'd say that they were likely right in line with the optimistic range of expectations for the auction. Because there was so much material coming into the market all at once, the estimates had to be set low to entice bidders to show up and absorb all the work. Clearly, this strategy worked, as most of the lots that found buyers came in above their high estimate, with plenty of top end surprises.

The summary statistics are below (all results include the 18.5% buyer’s premium):

Total Lots: 286
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: 322000€
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: 470200€
Total Lots Sold: 204
Total Lots Bought In: 82
Buy In %: 28.67%
Total Sale Proceeds: 519089€

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

Low Total Lots: 285
Low Sold: 203
Low Bought In: 82
Buy In %: 28.77%
Total Low Estimate: 450200€
Total Low Sold: 469319€

Mid Total Lots: 1
Mid Sold: 1
Mid Bought In: 0
Buy In %: 00.00%
Total Mid Estimate: 20000€
Total Mid Sold: 49770€

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 56, Ilse Bing, Le Moulin Rouge, Paris, 1931, at 15000-20000€; it was also the top outcome of the sale at 49770€.

As evidence of the low estimates, a staggering 62.25% of the lots that sold had proceeds above the estimate range; only 7.35% sold below the range. There were a total of 37 surprises in this sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate). Since there are far too many to list, I have only added details for the "extreme surprises", where the proceeds were at least triple the high estimate; there were nine of these:

Lot 1, Ilse Bing, Textes, documentation, dessins, collages divers, at 8532€
Lot 2, Ilse Bing, Autoportrait, Frankfurt, 1928, at 14220€
Lot 65, Ilse Bing, The elevated and me, New York, 1936, at 29625€
Lot 117, Ilse Bing, Orgue du Barbarie, Amsterdam, 1933, at 10665€
Lot 161, Ilse Bing, Le dernier 14 juillet avant la guerre, Paris, 1939, at 3318€
Lot 163, Ilse Bing, New York, 1936, at 7110€
Lot 195, Ilse Bing, Ecoliers, 1952, at 2726€
Lot 206, Ilse Bing, Le marchard de glace, Paris, 1933, at 1896€
Lot 210, Ilse Bing, Street cleaner's broom, Paris, 1952, at 8532€

Complete lot by lot results can be found here.

Millon et Associés
5, Avenue D'Eylau
75116 Paris

Auction: Ilse Bing, November 16, 2009 @Millon

In the past few years, the French auction season has often been highlighted by sales that span the entire estates of relatively well known European photographers. We participated in the Brassaï sale before we began this site, and we covered the Blanc & Demilly sale last fall (here) and the Sasha Stone sale this past summer (here).

This sale focuses on Ilse Bing and draws photographs and ephemera from her entire career. The vast majority of the works on offer are from 1930s Paris and New York, and many of her iconic images are represented. (Hardback catalog cover at right, via Millon. By the way, the catalog itself is an excellent reference book on Bing, with a biographical essay, a detailed bibliography and exhibition list, and copies of all her hand stamps.)

There are a total of 286 lots on offer, with a Total High Estimate of 470200€. Only a handful of lots have a high estimate over 3000€, so there is plenty of low priced material to dig through. In general, I have found the estimates to be ridiculously low compared to the prices we have encountered for her work in galleries or at auction in the past few years; this is of course a result of bringing so much Bing material to market at once and hoping to have it all absorbed. Given what's in the catalog, I'd say that if you ever wanted an Ilse Bing for your collection, now would be the time to go after it.

Here's the breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including 7500€): 285

Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): 450200€

.

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between 7500€ and 35000€): 1
Total Mid Estimate: 20000€

.

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

.

The top lot by High estimate is lot 56, Ilse Bing, Le Moulin Rouge, Paris, 1931, at 15000-20000€.

We already have several Ilse Bing images in our collection (here), and there are variants or duplicate prints of most of our images up for sale. There are of course others in this auction that would fit nicely with our existing holdings. (The easily accessible thumbnails on the website are quite small, so I have not reproduced them here.) A few of interest include:

Lot 12, Gear, Frankfurt, 1930

Lot 91, Le 14 Juillet, Paris, 1933

Lot 109, Amboise, 1935

Lot 135, Nature Morte, Paris, 1931
.

The complete lot by lot catalog can be found here.

Ilse Bing

November 16th

Millon et Associés

5, Avenue D'Eylau

75116 Paris

Auctions: Heritage, Millon, and Bloomsbury

Here are three more upcoming photography auctions that are worth a look. We won't have time to do the usual thorough analysis of these sales, but wanted to provide links just the same:

Heritage Auctions
Vintage & Contemporary Photography
December 12

348 lots of photography.

Millon & Associes
Photographie Contemporaine
December 13

113 lots of contemporary photography in a sale also offering design/furniture.

Bloomsbury Auctions
20th Century Arts, New York
December 17

118 lots of photography in a sale also offering prints/multiples.

Auction: Blanc et Demilly, October 13, 2008 @Millon et Associes, Paris

My first interaction with the Millon auction house in Paris was a few years ago during the big Brassai sale. Getting comfortable with an unfamiliar foreign auction house always has its questions: can I get a condition report in English and will it be reliable? will payment be a hassle? what about packing and shipment? will they do a good job or will I have to try to manage it from afar? I can say from experience at that sale that Millon, while perhaps not world class in its service, is perfectly adequate and you can have comfort that buying from America can be done with a minimum of effort on your part. If you can speak French, life will be even easier.

Coming up on October 13th, Millon will be selling a huge group of images by Blanc and Demilly, consigned by various family members on both sides. Blanc and Demilly are best known for their images of the people and streets of Lyons in the 1930s. This sale spans their entire career together, from the mid 1920s to the mid 1950s, including their commercial work. As such, there is a staggering array of subject matter in this sale: city scenes, portraits, nudes, still lifes, flowers, travel photos, surrealism, street photography etc. Sizes generally range from 9x7 to 24x20, with some large exhibition prints thrown in as well. With a total of 603 lots up for sale (virtually all vintage prints), there is truly something for everyone.

A quick check of the estimates also shows that this sale is very reasonably priced. There are only 2 lots with high estimates over $7500 Euros (the equivalent of approximately $10000, the cutoff used in other auction posts on this blog), and an amazing 552 lots have a high estimate of $1000 Euros or less. So there are plenty of bargains to be had here, even if the estimates are artificially low to entice bidders.

We actually already own one print by Blanc and Demilly, here. In my view, if you enjoy the work of Doisneau and Brassai, or the Paris work of Kertesz, Bing, and Man Ray, or the Marseille work of Krull, you should definitely take a close look at this sale. While perhaps not as consistently accomplished as those mentioned, there are images buried in this pile of lots that might fit your collection.

The entire sale can be seen online from the link below, and there is a fine, hard backed catalogue also available.

Blanc et Demilly
October 13, 2008

Millon et Associes
Paris Drouot Montaigne
15, Avenue Montaigne - 75008 Paris