With no photography lots on offer in Phillips’ 20th Century & Contemporary Art evening sale last week in London, the day sale became the primary venue for photography. The pair of top photo lots split – one selling, one not – only to be bested by a brand new work by Anselm Kiefer combining photographic emulsion and gold leaf. In the end, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography came in at roughly £380K, squarely in 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 | 16 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | £320500 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | £475500 |
| Total Lots Sold | 13 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 3 |
| Buy In % | 18.75% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | £387324 |
Here is the breakdown (using our usual Low, Mid, and High price tier definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 2 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 2 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Low Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | £5500 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | £6804 |
| Mid Total Lots | 5 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 5 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Mid Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | £75000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | £85680 |
| Total High Lots | 9 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 6 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 3 |
| High Buy In % | 33.33% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | £395000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | £294840 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was tied between two lots: lot 174, Gerhard Richter, Strip, 2011, and lot 175, Günther Förg, Alessandria, 1986, both estimated at £40000-60000; the Richter print sold at £69300, while the Förg print didn’t sell. The top photography outcome of the sale was lot 179, Anselm Kiefer, der Morgenthau-Plan (The Morgenthau Plan), 2021, estimated at £25000-35000, sold at £75600 (image above, via Phillips).
100.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were 2 positive surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (image above, via Phillips):
Lot 179, Anselm Kiefer, der Morgenthau-Plan (The Morgenthau Plan), 2021, estimated at £25000-35000, sold at £75600
Lot 180, Gerhard Richter, Haggadah (P2), 2014, estimated at £10000-15000, sold at £32760
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
