Auction Results: 20th Century Evening and Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sales, May 11 and 12, 2023 @Christie’s

The photography included in last week’s 20th Century and Post-War and Contemporary Art sales at Christie’s in New York performed admirably. The top lot Man Ray solarized nude found a buyer above its estimate range, and with a low overall Buy-In rate for photography (of just 5%) and a few positive surprises, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography came in above $2.6M, 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 20
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $1573000
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $2330000
Total Lots Sold 19
Total Lots Bought In 1
Buy In % 5.00%
Total Sale Proceeds $2607570

Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions):

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 1
Total Low Lots Sold 1
Total Low Lots Bought In 0
Low Buy In % 0.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots $5000
Total Proceeds from Low Lots $6930
Mid Total Lots 10
Total Mid Lots Sold 9
Total Mid Lots Bought In 1
Mid Buy In % 10.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $285000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $496440
Total High Lots 9
Total High Lots Sold 9
Total High Lots Bought In 0
High Buy In % 0.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $2040000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $2104200

The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 18A, Man Ray, Untitled (Solarized Nude, Paris), 1929, estimated at $300000-500000; it was also the top photography outcome of the sales at $630000 (image above, via Christie’s.)

89.47% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 4 positive surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Christie’s):

Lot 108, Constantin Brancusi, La muse endormie, c1912, estimated at $30000-50000, sold at $201600

Lot 317, Barbara Kruger, Untitled (War Without End), 2008, estimated at $12000-18000, sold at $60480

Lot 337, Robert Mapplethorpe, Flowers (portfolio), 1987/1988, estimated at $70000-90000, sold at $201600

Lot 341, Nan Goldin, Nan and Brian in Bed, N.Y.C., 1983, estimated at $20000-30000, sold at $63000

The complete lot by lot results can be found here (20th Century Evening) and here (Post-War & Contemporary Art Day).

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Read more about: Barbara Kruger, Constantin Brancusi, Man Ray, Nan Goldin, Robert Mapplethorpe, Christie's

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