It was a mixed signals moment for the photography included in last week’s series of contemporary art sales at Christie’s in New York. Things got off to a disappointing start when a vintage Man Ray print with a frothy estimate failed to sell in the 20th Century Evening sale. But a few nights later, Cindy Sherman came to the rescue in the 21st Century Evening sale, with one of her iconic film stills jumping to just over $2.25M, more than 3X its high estimate. This whipsawing continued though the subsequent day sale, albeit without any positive surprises (aside from the Sherman). In the end, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography across all of the sales tallied up just under $4.9M, toward the low end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 17 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $4308000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $6152000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 12 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 5 |
| Buy In % | 29.41% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $4888470 |
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 | MA |
| Low Buy In % | NA |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $0 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $0 |
| Mid Total Lots | 2 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 2 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Mid Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $62000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $52070 |
| Total High Lots | 15 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 10 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 5 |
| High Buy In % | 33.33% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $6090000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $4836400 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 36A, Man Ray, Sade, Pas Terminé, 1933, estimated at $1800000-2500000; it did not sell. The top photography outcome of the sales was lot 2B, Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #13, 1978, estimated at $500000-700000, sold at $2271000 (image above, via Christie’s).
75.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range, and aside from the Sherman above, there were no positive surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate).
The complete lot by lot results can be found here (20th Century Evening), here (21st Century Evening), and here (Post-War & Contemporary Art Day).
