Sotheby’s Photographies Auction Results, November 2017

The second of Sotheby’s Paris Photography auctions took place on Friday evening with 106 lots available to purchase, with estimates ranging from 1,000 to 150,000 euros.

Sotheby’s stated ahead of the auction:

The auction highlights includes historical works from the 19th century such as an exceptional early daguerreotype view of Notre Dame in Paris, and photographs by Gustave Le Gray. We are also offering a large selection of Contemporary Photographs with spectacular works by Bernd and Hilla Becher, Florian Maier Aichen, Walead Beshty and Thomas Struth.

The auction took place in the evening, ending with a sales total of 1,376,750 euros, with Robert Mapplethorpe’s Calla Lily, 1986 as the most expensive sale. The lot sold for 137,500 euros, with an initial estimate of 70,000-100,000 euros.

The second most expensive lot was Bernd & Hilla Becher’s Water tower typology, 1977-1990 which sold for 125,000 euros, with an original estimate of 80,000-120,000 euros.

A surprise sale came from Etienne Carjat, whose Charles Baudelaire, le denier portrait, Paris, 1865 was given an estimate of 10,000-15,000 euros, but instead sold for a much grander hammer price of 112,500 euros.

View all lots and their results at Sotheby’s auction page, here.