VIENNA.- All expectations of the 21st WestLicht camera auction were exceeded: For the 5th time the world record for the most expensive camera ever sold was broken at a WestLicht auction in Vienna with a winning bid of 2,160,000,- EUR including buyer’s premium.

The third of the 629 lots to be auctioned, with a starting price of 300,000 EUR was an extremely rare exemplar of the Leica 0-Series, a test camera from the year 1923. In an exciting bidding war between the room, phone and internet bidders, the price of the camera climbed to a new world record. The bidder who secured the rare exemplar would like to remain anonymous.

Further highlights of the camera-auction:
One of only two existing M3 Leica cameras (Lot 113), that was officially gold plated by Leitz, was sold for 360,000 Euro (starting price 40,000; Estimate 70,000 – 90,000 Euro).

A 250FF (Lot 34), one of the most exiting screw-mount Leica cameras ever offered for sale in auction, climbed from a starting price of 12,000 to 120,000 EUR.

An Elcan 1/90mm + KE-7A (186) had a 228,000 Euro collector’s value.
(Starting price 30,000). This ultra-rare and extremely fast lens was produced for the US Navy, only 10 of these were made. This is the first lens in the series and was for the first time offered in auction!

In total 95 percent of the camera lots were sold, and the total turnover of the 21st camera auction was 5,351,000 EUR.

6th WestLicht photography auction
Numerous top results also for photography

Over 200 lots set new standards for a photography auction in Austria with their quality and with their results.

The top lot offered in the photography auction was a daguerreotype (Lot 1004) in full format, and of museum quality, which climbed from a starting price of 90,000 EUR to a total sale of 228,000 EUR. The daguerreotype shows the Marché des Innocents in Paris, is dated around 1855 and is ascribed to the diplomat Baron Jean-Baptiste Louis Gros, a pioneer of the procedure.

A rare vintage print of a manifold published press photography icon (Lot 1058), showing the Olympic champion Dorothy Poynton-Hill, Summer Olympic Games, by the Austrian Lothar Rübelt (1901–1991), was sold for a sensational 15,600 EUR (Starting price: 2,000).

Another Highlight: Studio Visages / Raymond Fabre Vintage silver print of Pablo Picasso (Lot 1107), was sold for 24,000 (Starting price: 8,000). This image shows the artist with Barretina, a traditional Catalan headdress, commonly worn by men in the rural population until the 19th century. The rare large format print on offer was signed by Picasso and dedicated to the photographer.

The fine results achieved by the contemporary photography in the auction confirm that the decision of WestLicht owner Peter Coeln to establish young positions in the photography auctions was a good one. This strategy will be institutionally manifested on June 4th 2012 with the opening of OstLicht, a gallery for contemporary photography. From then on, Vienna will have a new centre of contemporary photography in the Anker Bread Factory.

66 percent of the offered lots were auctioned, with a total turnover of 797,000 Euros.