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Going once, going twice, going three times, sold!
Going once, going twice, going three times, sold!
December 4, 2018
Matthias Harsch (left, CEO Leica Camera) and Alexander Sedlak (right, Managing Director Leica Camera Austria)
On November 24, 2018 the 33rd WestLicht Photographica took place in Vienna, where it was held for the last time. The next auction, to take place in June, 2019, at the Leitz Park in Wetzlar, will be called the Leitz Photographica Auction, and will be run by the team from Vienna.
A total of precisely 555 rarities from the world of photography were up for sale: cameras, prototypes, obscure inventions and lenses by Leica, Zeiss, Voigtländer, Nikon, Eastman Kodak and many more. As was to be expected, Leica products were among those to receive the highest prices at the auction – seven Leica cameras and lenses were among the ten most expensive items.
The most expensive camera on the day was one of the rarest Leicas ever: a black-painted Leica MP of which only 141 pieces were produced. Most of them were sold to professional photographers. This was also the case of the one on auction, which was delivered to the French photo journalist Gérard Bois in New York in 1957, and which stayed in his possession for over fifty years. The camera, numbered MP-47, equipped with an equally rare, black-painted Summicron-M 50mm f/2 (#1468967) was purchased for €156,000.
Other highlights at the camera auction were: a very early and rare Leica Ia, an Anastigmat export version from 1925, series number 207, in very good condition, which at €120,000 sold well over the expected price of €60,000 to 80,000; and a black-painted Leica M2 from 1965 with Summilux-M 35 mm f/1.4, that belonged to Sean Flynn, the photographer who went missing in Cambodia in 1970. It was sold for €72,000.
Lot number 143 – a black-painted M9-P from 2012 with a Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 – that belonged to renowned Magnum photographer Ian Berry, also proved to be special item. The camera, with the name of the photographer – who was present at the auction – engraved on it, sold for €18,000.
Among the most expensive lenses sold was a red anodised Apo-Summicron-M 50mm f/2 from 2017, from an edition limited to 100 pieces, that found a new owner for €33,600. One of the first generation Noctilux – a Noctilux 50mm f/1.2 from 1967 – fell under the hammer for €19,200, while its expected price had been between €14,000 and 18,000.
You can find further information about the auction at: www.leitz-auction.com
A total of precisely 555 rarities from the world of photography were up for sale: cameras, prototypes, obscure inventions and lenses by Leica, Zeiss, Voigtländer, Nikon, Eastman Kodak and many more. As was to be expected, Leica products were among those to receive the highest prices at the auction – seven Leica cameras and lenses were among the ten most expensive items.
The most expensive camera on the day was one of the rarest Leicas ever: a black-painted Leica MP of which only 141 pieces were produced. Most of them were sold to professional photographers. This was also the case of the one on auction, which was delivered to the French photo journalist Gérard Bois in New York in 1957, and which stayed in his possession for over fifty years. The camera, numbered MP-47, equipped with an equally rare, black-painted Summicron-M 50mm f/2 (#1468967) was purchased for €156,000.
Other highlights at the camera auction were: a very early and rare Leica Ia, an Anastigmat export version from 1925, series number 207, in very good condition, which at €120,000 sold well over the expected price of €60,000 to 80,000; and a black-painted Leica M2 from 1965 with Summilux-M 35 mm f/1.4, that belonged to Sean Flynn, the photographer who went missing in Cambodia in 1970. It was sold for €72,000.
Lot number 143 – a black-painted M9-P from 2012 with a Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 – that belonged to renowned Magnum photographer Ian Berry, also proved to be special item. The camera, with the name of the photographer – who was present at the auction – engraved on it, sold for €18,000.
Among the most expensive lenses sold was a red anodised Apo-Summicron-M 50mm f/2 from 2017, from an edition limited to 100 pieces, that found a new owner for €33,600. One of the first generation Noctilux – a Noctilux 50mm f/1.2 from 1967 – fell under the hammer for €19,200, while its expected price had been between €14,000 and 18,000.
You can find further information about the auction at: www.leitz-auction.com
Matthias Harsch (left, CEO Leica Camera) and Alexander Sedlak (right, Managing Director Leica Camera Austria)
Leica MP black paint ‘Gérard Bois’
Leica I Mod. A, Anastigmat Export Version
Apo-Summicron-M 50mm f/2 ASPH. RED
Leica M9-P black paint + Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH. ‘Ian Berry’
Ian Berry (left) at the auction