While there were no photographs included in the evening sale, the photography lots on offer in Phillips’ 20th Century & Contemporary Art day sales in New York earlier this week generally performed as expected. The top lot Felix Gonzales-Torres puzzle prints both sold (one was the top photo outcome of the sales), and with an overall Buy-In rate for photography of roughly 15%, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography (of roughly $720K) fell just below the top of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 13 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $500000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $745000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 11 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 2 |
| Buy In % | 15.38% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $720090 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High 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 | 9 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 8 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 1 |
| Mid Buy In % | 11.11% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $305000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $300990 |
| Total High Lots | 4 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 3 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 1 |
| High Buy In % | 25.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $440000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $419100 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was tied between two lots, each estimated at $100000-150000: lot 349, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, “Untitled” (Me and My Sister), 1988, and lot 350, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, “Untitled” (Love Letter From The War Front), 1988. Lot 349 was the top photography outcome of the sales at $241300 (image above, via Phillips), while lot 350 sold at $101600.
81.82% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there was just one positive surprise in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (image above, via Phillips):
Lot 183, Gerhard Richter, Untitled (28 Nov 1999), 1999, estimated at $30000-40000, sold at $88900
The complete lot by lot results can be found here (Morning), here (Afternoon) and here (Evening).
