After a bidding battle between two collectors at WestLicht’s December 4 camera auction, the auction highlight, a rare Leica MP2 from 1958 with a starting price of $100,000 soared to an incredible $535,000. A private collector from Asia now owns the most expensive Leica camera ever sold at an auction. The World War II Leica Reporter was also able to multiply its starting price †opening at $93,000, it brought a staggering $240,000.
The results of the Nikon lots were equally impressive. Two lots of this section now share the world record for the most expensive Nikon camera †the Nikon S2-E, a viewfinder camera built in 1957, went for $223,000, as did a Nikon F3 NASA from 1968. The selling price of this camera exceeded the starting price of $20,000 more than ten times.
In addition, many of the other 653 lots achieved extraordinary results, among them a De Luxe Graphoscope stereo viewer, which was sold for $51,000.
A total of 88 percent of the lots were sold for more than $2.9 million. The 18th WestLicht camera auction not only exceeded all prior WestLicht auctions, but the firm said it was also the most successful camera auction ever worldwide.
The photo auction conducted on the same day was equally a great success. The highlight of the auction was a portrait of Egon Schiele by Josef Trcka from 1914, which was bought by a European dealer for $58,000, a record sale of a historic photograph at auction in Austria.
A portrait by Gustav Klimt started at $8,000 and went for $20,000. Classic photographs by international photographers like Josef Sudek, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Philippe Halsman and Franz Hubmann were able to achieve results high above the estimated prices.
Prices reported have been converted from euros to US dollars and include the buyer’s premium.
WestLicht will conduct its next auction on May 28. For information, +43 1 523 56 59 or www.westlicht-auction.com .
