La Villa Grisenbach, an auction house founded in Berlin in 1986, held its Spring auction May 30 – June 2. The sale of modern and contemporary photographs took place on May 30, where 210 lots were up for auction. La Villa Grisebach, which specializes in 19th, 20th and 21st century art, has held photography auctions since 1998.
Some very beautiful items were on sale: photographs dating from 1905 (Heinrich Kühn) to 2007 with Pieter Hugo’s The Hyena Men Series II. The highest bid was made, as expected, for Peter Beard’s Tsavo North – Athu Tiva Lugga, Bull Elephant, 1965, which sold for 75,640€ (est. 8,000–10,000€), followed by an architectural photograph, Barcelona Pavillon, Innenansicht mit beleuchtbarer glaswand und onyxwand, 1929, by Mies van der Rohe, which sold for 63,440€—more than forty times its estimated value! A 1968 portfolio containing ten photographs by Bernd and Hilla Becher entitled Industriebauten attained the third highest selling price of 37,820€.
The total sales amounted to 756,100€. Here are the 15 items that fetched the highest prices.
Villa Grisebach Auktionen GmbH
Fasanenstr. 25
D-10719 Berlin
Phone +49-30-885 915-0
Fax +49-30-882 41 45
