Photography

The highlight of the auction was edition 38/50 of a portfolio with 10 prints by Umbo. This edition from 1980 was pushed up to 23,600 by the German trade (lot 20, 10,000). Following on from the success of the last auctions with international record prices for photographs by Albert Renger-Patzsch, eight prints by this photographer again performed well. With results up to 7,200, the majority climbed above the estimate (lots 23 – 29).

Glamour and beauty were reflected in prints by photographers such as Bill Ray (lot 126, 5,500, estimate 2/2,500), and Helmut Newton's shot of Sigourney Weaver. The cool and sombre portrait was taken on set of the science fiction horror classic 'Alien 3' and has never before been offered at auction. It sold for 8,700 and herewith moves to Italy (lot 135, 8,000).

Star lot of the classic 20th century photography was August Sander's view of the 'Stadtwald zu Köln', purchased by a collector for 10,500 (lot 30, 5/6,000). In the area of German reportage photography, works by Thomas Höpker (lot 155, 5,000 up from 2,5/3,000), Barara Klemm, Robert Lebeck and Will McBride stood out, and in particular Arno Fischer with a selection of his most important Berlin motifs which sold to the German market for 9,300 (lot 92, 5,000). Leni Riefenstahl was also successful with two 'Masks' with African motifs from 1975, each selling for 6,500 (lots 142/143, 6,000).

Amongst the 19th century photography, one of many examples worth mentioning is a stereo daguerreotype of a couple, probably in Moscow, by Wilhelm Schneider (lot 1, 2,100, up from 1,500), as well as a rare group of views of Buenos Aires and Argentina by Samuel Boote and Samuel Rimanthé (lot 3, 2,100, up from 1,000).

Contemporary photography

Highlights featured in the photography section of the Contemporary Art auction on 3 December included two large-format C prints by Thomas Struth: a cityscape from the Tokyo series rose up to 34,700 (lot 470, 20/28,000), and a view through the thick Bavarian woods from the 'Paradies' series changed hands for 49,600 (lot 471, 40/50,000). A result of 13,600 was made by Wolfgang Tillman's famous double portrait of 'Lutz & Alex' (lot 709, 8/10,000), whilst amongst the masterworks of black and white photography offered, Gerhard Richter's 'Uran' stood out, selling for 31,000 (lot 624, estimate 20/25,000).