Something went momentarily haywire at Christie’s recent photography auction in London. Whether it was a miscataloged lot or just two bidders getting unexpectedly aggressive, a later print of August Sander’s iconic 1914 image Three Farmers on Their Way to A Dance, Westerland jumped to more than ten times its high estimate (to £104500). Sadly, even this wasn’t enough to save an otherwise soft sale. With an overall Buy-In rate of more than 40% and few positive surprises, the Total Sale Proceeds just missed the low end of the pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 103 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | £591200 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | £841800 |
| Total Lots Sold | 61 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 42 |
| Buy In % | 40.78% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | £577063 |
Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 43 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 24 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 19 |
| Low Buy In % | 44.19% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | £164800 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | £99313 |
| Mid Total Lots | 57 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 36 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 21 |
| Mid Buy In % | 36.84% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | £557000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | £427750 |
| Total High Lots | 3 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 1 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 2 |
| High Buy In % | 66.67% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | £120000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | £50000 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 86, Gustave Le Gray, Brig on the Water, 1856, estimated at £30000-50000; it sold for £50000. The top outcome of the sale was lot 30, August Sander, Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance, Westerland, 1914/later, estimated at £8000-10000, sold at £104500 (image above, via Christie’s).
Only 72.13% of the photo lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 5 surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images below via Christie’s):
Lot 30 August Sander, Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance, Westerland, 1914/later, estimated at £8000-10000, sold at £104500
Lot 52, Stephen Somerstein, Martin Luther King Jr., 1965/later, estimated at £2000-3000, sold at £7500
Lot 82, Andy Warhol, Crosses, 1982, estimated at £3000-5000, sold at £11250
Lot 93, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Eton, 1962, estimated at £8000-10000, sold at £20000
Lot 100, Lloyd Ziff, Robert Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith, Brooklyn, New York, 1968/2013, estimated at £3000-5000, sold at £12500
Complete lot by lot results can be found here.
