Here are some of the Leica results from the 27th WestLicht Camera Auction that took place on June 13, 2015:
One of the first Leica cameras produced in series was the Leica I Mod. A with an Elmax lens sold for €20,400/$23,000. This collector’s item, in its original state, is exactly 90 years old.
The top lot is a prototype of the famous New York Leica rifle sold for €288,000/$326,000 – doubtlessly one of the most rare and unusual treasures in the history of photography.
A milestone of Leica history is the Leica M3 Prototype sold for €192,000/$217,000. In 1953 Leica built some pre-series cameras for the new M series, but only very few have survived.
The rarity of rarities is the black paint Leica MP-99 from 1957 in mint condition with matching black paint Summicron lens sold for €264,000/$300,000. A total of 412 Leica MP cameras were produced, only 141 of which were made in black paint finish. Many of the famous Magnum photographers worked with MP cameras. Today, it is among the most sought-after Leicas anywhere.
This is followed by a number of rare Leica special editions, including the M-P Set ‘Correspondent’ by Lenny Kravitz Number 1 sold for €26,400/$30,000. The combination of a black paint Leica M-P with two lenses was designed together with the musician in the style of the legendary reportage cameras and is limited to 125 sets. Set Number 1 will be auctioned with a photograph showing Lenny Kravitz with the camera and dedicated to the buyer.
The Leica M and M-E featuring the “Children’s Laughter” Design have been donated by the Leica Company. The Munich-based artist Helmut Lutter designed these cameras, based on sketches by school children. The colorful, one-of-a-kind cameras are now being auctioned for a good cause: all proceeds will be donated to the organization Kinderlachen e.V. The final price was €28,800/$32,600 each.
Another highlight is the olive-green Leica M4, produced for the German Army in 1970, one of only 30 cameras produced got sold for €78,000/$88,000.
The complete results from the auction can be found here. Here is the full press release:
RESULTS WESTLICHT AUCTIONS
Dear friends of WestLicht Photographica Auctions!
The 27th WestLicht Camera Auction closed on Saturday with outstanding results throughout, with the better part of the lots multiplying their starting prices. The Auction’s sales rate was at a prime 84 per cent, with a total revenue of 3 million Euros.
With 288,000 Euros (starting price 150,000 Euros) the rare New York Leica Gun RIFLE Prototype achieved the highest price of the 27th WestLicht Camera Auction.
A Leica MP black paint with a starting price of 140,000 Euros was worth 264,000 Euros to a collector and finished second. To 192,000 Euros including premium climbed a Leica M3 Prototype from 1953 (starting price 80,000 Euros). With 180,000 Euros a fourth camera, a Leica M6 Electronic Prototype, which started at 90,000 Euros, finished way above the threshold of 100,000 Euros.
The most expensive lens was also the fastest telephoto lens ever built by Leica for the US Navy: the Elcan 1:0/90mm. Having started at 38,000 Euros it was sold in the end for 84,000 Euros.
Tremendous joy for non-profit organization “Kinderlachen”: A Leica M and a Leica ME, in a cheerful design done by children, both fetched 28,800 Euros – the proceeds will go to charitable projects of the organization
For the feminist icon – VALIE EXPORT’s Genital Panic – a record price of 54,000 Euros could be achieved. The cover image of the 12th WestLicht Photo-Auction’s catalogue went to a private collector for three times the starting bid: a superb result for an artwork from Austrian post-war avant-garde.
The erotic photographs of Alfons Walde were also among the highlights and reached prices up to 11,400 Euros.
A photograph of Marilyn Monroe with a starting price of 800 Euros was worth 14,400 Euros to one of her admirers.
Audrey Hepburn was no less enchanting for 1963’s Hollywood. The photograph by Philippe Halsman which shows her alongside Cary Grant caused an exciting bidding war and climbed from 6,000 Euros to a final bid of 11,400 Euros.
Irving Penn’s contact sheets from the series “Woman in Chicken Hat” started at 6,000 Euros and achieved 31,200 Euros including premium.
“Derrière la Gare Saint-Lazare”, Henri Cartier-Bresson’s all-time classic went for the exact same sum of 31,200 Euros, which was the highest price ever achieved for a print of the grandmaster of reportage photography in an auction in Austria.The top lot in the section of Russian photographs was a picture of Lenin giving a political speech in 1918 Moscow, which climbed from 1,400 Euros to a fantastic 19,200 Euros.
