Christie’s continued its 2022 run of achieving multi-million dollar outcomes for vintage photographic rarities with a 1926 print of Man Ray’s Noire et Blanche at the recent 20th Century Evening sale in New York. The print found a buyer at $4020000, well above its pre-sale estimate range of $1800000-2200000. And while the price didn’t jump above the $10M mark (as other prints by Man Ray and Edward Steichen have successfully done earlier this year), the outcome was still a strong result.
The rest of the photography spread across the various other contemporary art sales at Christie’s last week performed more to expectations. When the dust settled, the overall Buy-In rate for photography was a respectable 20%, and with a few positive surprises to go along with the Man Ray outcome, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography came in above $6.4M, well above the top end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 15 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $3870000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $5324000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 12 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 3 |
| Buy In % | 20.00% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $6424080 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 2 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 2 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Low Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $14000 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $22680 |
| Mid Total Lots | 2 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 1 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 1 |
| Mid Buy In % | 50.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $60000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $69300 |
| Total High Lots | 11 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 9 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 2 |
| High Buy In % | 18.18% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $5250000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $6332100 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 10, Man Ray, Noire et Blanche, 1926, estimated at $1800000-2200000; it was also the top photography outcome of the sales at $4020000 (image above, via Christie’s.)
83.33% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 2 positive surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Christie’s):
Lot 415, Peter Hujar, Divine, 1975/lifetime, estimated at $15000-25000, sold at $69300
Lot 512, Louise Lawler, Does Andy Warhol Make You Cry?, 1988, estimated at $80000-120000, sold at $340200
The complete lot by lot results can be found here (20th Century Evening), here (21st Century Evening), and here (Post-War & Contemporary Art Day).
