The photography results from Phillips’ recent 20th Century and Contemporary Art sales in London were largely driven by the performance of a single nighttime skyline print of Los Angeles by Andreas Gursky. With a successful sale within its lofty estimate range, and supported by yet another solid outcome for a Wolfgang Tillmans abstraction, the rest of the details hardly mattered. While the overall Buy-In rate for photography neared 40% and there was only 1 positive surprise, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography still easily fell into 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 | 28 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | £2130000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | £2868000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 17 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 11 |
| Buy In % | 39.29% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | £2532500 |
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 | 16 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 11 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 5 |
| Mid Buy In % | 31.25% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | £198000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | £148500 |
| Total High Lots | 12 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 6 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 6 |
| High Buy In % | 50.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | £2670000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | £2384000 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 24, Andreas Gursky, Los Angeles, 1998-1999, estimated at £1400000-1800000 (image in preview post); it was also the top photography outcome of the sales at £1689000.
95.12% 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) (images above via Phillips):
Lot 183, Andres Serrano, Cabeza de Vaca, 1984, estimated at £5000-7000, sold at £18750
The complete lot by lot results can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).
