Auction Results: 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening and Day Sales, May 8 and 10, 2016 @Phillips

The photography included in Phillips recent 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening and Day sales generally performed to expectations, with one notable exception. A photographic collage made by Joseph Cornell soared to nearly 6X its pre-sale estimate; what makes that outcome all the more surprising is that the same collage failed to sell against a slightly smaller estimate in a sale at Sotheby’s in 2014. The rest of the outcomes were more predictable, with an overall Buy-In rate for photography under 30% and Total Sale Proceeds that fell in the middle of the aggregate pre-sale range.

The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 24
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $1928000
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $2679000
Total Lots Sold 17
Total Lots Bought In 7
Buy In % 29.17%
Total Sale Proceeds $2142000

Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):

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 11
Total Mid Lots Sold 9
Total Mid Lots Bought In 2
Mid Buy In % 18.18%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $329000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $441500
Total High Lots 13
Total High Lots Sold 8
Total High Lots Bought In 5
High Buy In % 38.46%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $2350000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $1700500

The top lot by High estimate was lot 10, Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #5A, 1977, estimated at $500000-700000 (image in preview post). It was also the top photography outcome of the sales at $461000.

76.47% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there was only 1 positive surprise in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 167, Joseph Cornell, Untitled (HÔTEL DE L’ÉTOILE, SUZANNE MILLER), circa 1960, estimated at $35000-45000, sold at $269000 (image above via Phillips).

The complete lot by lot results can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).

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