The photography scattered through Christie’s various contemporary art sales in London last week performed well, albeit with few if any surprises. An early Gilbert & George multi-panel work took the top photo lot honors across the sales, and with an overall Buy-In rate for photography just over 21%, the Total Sales Proceeds for photography (of roughly £895K) easily found the middle of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 23 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | £668000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | £966000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 18 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 5 |
| Buy In % | 21.74% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | £838400 |
Here is the breakdown (using our usual Low, Mid, and High price tier definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 0 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | NA |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | NA |
| Low Buy In % | NA |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | £0 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | £0 |
| Mid Total Lots | 15 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 11 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 4 |
| Mid Buy In % | 26.67% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | £326000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | £257280 |
| Total High Lots | 8 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 7 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 1 |
| High Buy In % | 12.50% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | £640000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | £581120 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 354, Richard Prince, Portrait of Cindy Sherman, 1980, estimated at £90000-130000; it found a buyer at £89600, but it was not the top photography outcome of the sales. That honor went to lot 137, Gilbert & George, Dead Boards No 19, 1976, estimated at £40000-60000, sold at £153600 (image above, via Christie’s.)
72.22% of the photo lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there was just 1 positive surprise in the sales – the Gilbert & George work above (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate).
Complete lot by lot results can be found here (20th/21st Century: London Evening), here (Monsoon: The Peter Simon Collection Day Sale) and here (Post-War and Contemporary Art Day).
