Two Dadaist photomontages by Hannah Höch led the photographic way at the various contemporary art sales at Christie’s in London last week. One Höch work topped £450K, a new record for the artist, and the other more than tripled its high estimate. Higher priced photographic works by other artists also fared well. In the end, the overall Buy-In rate for photography was 25%, but the Total Sales Proceeds for photography (of roughly £1.8M) still came in well above the top end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 16 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | £1020000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | £1532000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 12 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 4 |
| Buy In % | 25.00% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | £1834308 |
Here is the breakdown (using our usual Low, Mid, and High price tier definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 1 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 1 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Low Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | £7000 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | £6048 |
| Mid Total Lots | 7 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 3 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 4 |
| Mid Buy In % | 57.14% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | £215000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | £102060 |
| Total High Lots | 8 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 8 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 0 |
| High Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | £1310000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | £1726200 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 477, Andreas Gursky, Hong Kong Stock Exchange, 2000/2023, estimated at £200000-300000; it sold at £252000, but was not the top photography outcome of the sales. That honor went to lot 105, Hannah Höch, Das schöne Mädchen (The Beautiful Girl), c1920, estimated at £120000-180000, sold at £453600 (image above, via Christie’s.)
100.00% of the photo lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were 3 positive surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Christie’s):
Lot 105, Hannah Höch, Das schöne Mädchen (The Beautiful Girl), c1920, estimated at £120000-180000, sold at £453600
Lot 236, Hannah Höch, Bürgerliches Brautpaar (Streit), 1919, estimated at £50000-80000, sold at £264600
Lot 548, Peter Beard, Ele in Bush, 1972/2008, estimated at £10000-15000, sold at £30240
Complete lot by lot results can be found here (20th/21st Century: London Evening), here (The Art of the Surreal Evening), here (Impressionist and Modern Art Day), and here (Post-War and Contemporary Art Day).
