While the bubble-like frothiness of the upcoming Contemporary Art sales in New York is already being much discussed, photography collectors will be hard pressed to find much evidence of speculative excess in Phillips’ offerings; for the first time in recent memory, there isn’t a single photograph available in the prime time Evening sale. While this is certainly just a quirk of the arrival rate of consignments, it does leave the auctions without many photographic attention grabbers. Overall, there are a total of 38 photography lots available across the two sales, with a Total High Estimate of $1870000.
Here’s the statistical breakdown:
| Preview Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including $10000) | 0 |
| Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of low lots) | $0 |
| Total Mid Lots (high estimate between $10000 and $50000) | 24 |
| Total Mid Estimate | $685000 |
| Total High Lots (high estimate above $50000) | 14 |
| Total High Estimate | $1185000 |
The top lot by High estimate is lot 135, Doug Aitken, Rise, 1998-2001, estimated at $120000-180000 (image above, left, via Phillips).
Here’s the complete list of photographers with three or more lots in the two sales, along with the number of lots on offer:
| Multiple Lots For Sale | |
|---|---|
| Vik Muniz | 5 |
| Walead Beshty | 3 |
| Hiroshi Sugimoto | 3 |
| Wolfgang Tillmans | 3 |
Other lots of interest include lot 127, Walead Beshty, 2 Sided Picture (Magenta/Red), November 22, 2007, Los Angeles, Kodak Supra, 2008, estimated at $40000-60000 (image above, middle, via Phillips), and lot 298, Mariah Robertson, 2, 2011, estimated at $8000-12000 (image above, right, via Phillips).
The complete lot by lot catalogs can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).
