London Auction Preview: ‘Dschungelbild’ by Gerhard Richter (1971)

It’s not always possible to know what motivates a collector to sell an artwork at auction, but estimates can provide a look into their thinking. Assuming the work is not being sold because one of the three Ds (Debt, Divorce, Death), those numbers hint at the returns that collectors are hoping to achieve on the block. In the run up to the London contemporary auctions next week, Skate’s is focusing on the top five lots that are repeat auction sales, one each day. What kind of returns are collectors looking for in London? Take a look.

On Friday October 17th, Dschungelbild, a 1971 painting by the German artist Gerhard Richter, will go up for auction at Sotheby’s in London. If Dschungelbild is sold at the mid-point of Sotheby’s estimates ($3,504,500), it will come in at 3770^th in the Skate’s ranking of the world’s most valuable artworks and produce an over 21% annualized return in US dollar terms.

This return runs congruent with Richter’s pricing range, and in addition reflects the enormous re-pricing of Richter’s market that’s happened over the past five years. The shrewd buyers who timed their Richter purchase right (the previous auction of Dschunglebild was in 2006) will get a strong return on their investment.

Richter’s top prices and their place on the Skate’s Top 10,000 list are below.

This post has been written to promote content produced by Skate’s, which is owned by ARTnews’ parent company. ARTnews editorial does not endorse its content.