This oversized corporate sign of Lehman Brothers’ London headquarters hung in Christie’s auction room yesterday like a remnant of a bygone era. The sign was sold for a wonderful sum to a generous buyer -- unlike the defunct financial power house.
ARTKABINETT social network of fine art collectors has been watching with keen interest the liquidation of fine art works to settle Lehman Brothers' debt.
On Tuesday we viewed the Sotheby's sale of some of their collected fine artworks garnering $12.5 million
Surrounding the sign were 300 items ranging from paintings to miniature battleships and mahogany gentleman’s dressing cases, all of which until recently had decorated executive offices, meeting rooms and hallways of Lehman’s London headquarters.
While interest in buying Lehman Brothers after it collapsed more than two years ago might have been limited, the appetite was enormous for its London art collection at the auction Wednesday in the Kensington district of London.
The large metal sign, which had adorned the entrance of the company’s Canary Wharf headquarters (seen here), fetched £42,050, or $66,355, after bidding started at £5,000.
The anonymous buyer bid via telephone and topped an offer from Guangzhou, China, that came via the Internet.
Another metal sign commemorating the opening of the London headquarters in 2004 by then-Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, was expected to bring up to £1,500 but sold for £28,750 to another anonymous bidder on the telephone.
“It’s a very unique auction and the room was busier than usual,” a spokeswoman for Christie’s, Leonie Ashfield, said.
More than 200 people showed up for the auction and more interested buyers bid by telephone through 27 Christie’s employees. Others from New York to Dubai registered their bids online.
Interest was so high that lines formed outside Christie’s, and the event had to be moved to a bigger room. Catalogs had sold out days before the auction.
The room was packed with men in dark suits, art collectors and artists looking for bargains or souvenirs of the financial crisis.
Caroline Stuart, who studies art in London, said she was interested in bidding for some of the signs.
“I’m interested in lettering and typography and in the fact that these particular letters have become a byword for the banking crisis and where we are now,” Ms. Stuart said, adding that the bids would probably be beyond her budget.
The auction took place under the direction of Lehman Brothers’ administrators in Europe, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and was part of their effort to repay creditors. A similar auction of Lehman Brothers items in New York fetched about $12 million through Sotheby’s.
Lehman Brothers’ European business was acquired by Nomura of Japan for a “nominal” amount in September 2008 and the bank recently moved staff to a new building further west.
The most expensive item listed was Gary Hume’s Madonna (above left), a green and black painting that was estimated at £120,000.
A collection of five maps from circa 1720 were among the lowest valued items and sold at £1,875.
To be offered at a later sale is Andreas Gursky's large photograph of the New York Mercantile Exchange (shown right).
Other highlights included an 1870 collection of the works of William Shakespeare, two etchings by Lucian Freud, photographs by Sebastiao Salgado and a 43.5-inch painted pine model of a 62-gun ship.
Also for sale was a sign with Lehman Brothers’ mission statement. It reads “we are one firm defined by our unwavering commitment to our clients, our shareholders and each other.”
courtesy, Hazel Thompson for The New York Times
