The photography on offer in Phillips’ 20th Century & Contemporary Art sales last week in London performed admirably. The top photo lot (a late 1970s Gilbert & George piece) found a buyer above its estimate range, and buoyed by some Gerhard Richter prints (which seemingly always sell well), the Total Sale Proceeds for photography came in above £1.1M, above the high end 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 | £734000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | £1008000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 13 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 3 |
| Buy In % | 18.75% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | £1102500 |
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 | 8 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 8 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Mid Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | £108000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | £161280 |
| Total High Lots | 8 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 5 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 3 |
| High Buy In % | 37.50% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | £900000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | £941220 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 26, Gilbert & George, Day, 1978, estimated at £350000-450000; it was also the top photography outcome of the sales at £453600 (image above, via Phillips).
100.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were 3 positive surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (image above, via Phillips):
Lot 184, Gerhard Richter, Six works: (i) Cage P19-1; (ii) Cage P19-2; (iii) Cage P19-3; (iv) Cage P19-4; (v) Cage P19-5; (vi) Cage P19-6, 2020, estimated at £30000-40000, sold at £113400
Lot 187, Gerhard Richter, Haggadah (P2), 2014, estimated at £10000-15000, sold at £32760
Lot 199, Lorna Simpson, Ultra Blue, 2013, estimated at £6000-8000, sold at £32760
The complete lot by lot results can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).
