Auction Results: 21st Century Evening and Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sales, May 10 and 13, 2022 @Christie’s

The only photograph on offer in Christie’s recent 21st Century Evening sale was a Helmut Newton big nude (a unique print made in the 1990s for gallery owner Rudolf Kicken), but it delivered on its special placement by setting a new auction record for the artist, at just over $2.3M. In the accompanying Post-War and Contemporary Art Day sale a few days later, the photographic results were similarly strong, with only one photo lot failing to sell. Across the two sales, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography came in above $6.5M, well above the top end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate ranges.

The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 31
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $3364000
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $5010000
Total Lots Sold 30
Total Lots Bought In 1
Buy In % 3.23%
Total Sale Proceeds $6523800

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

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 3
Total Low Lots Sold 3
Total Low Lots Bought In 0
Low Buy In % 0.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots $15000
Total Proceeds from Low Lots $5670
Mid Total Lots 13
Total Mid Lots Sold 13
Total Mid Lots Bought In 0
Mid Buy In % 0.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $315000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $398130
Total High Lots 15
Total High Lots Sold 14
Total High Lots Bought In 1
High Buy In % 6.67%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $4680000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $6120000

The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 25B, Helmut Newton, “Big Nude III” (Variation), Paris, 1980/1990s, estimated at $800000-1200000; it was also the top photography outcome in the sale at $2340000 (image above, via Christie’s.)

76.67% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 5 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Christie’s):

Lot 318, Cy Twombly, Painting Detail (Roses), 2009, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $50400

Lot 319, Cy Twombly, Painting Detail (Roses), 2009, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $47880

Lot 320, Cy Twombly, Painting Detail (Roses), 2009, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $40320

Lot 487, Matthew Barney, Cremaster 3: The Five Points of Fellowship, 2002, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $35280

Lot 501, Andy Warhol, Untitled (Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts), c1977, estimated at $70000-100000, sold at $252000

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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Read more about: Andy Warhol, Cy Twombly, Helmut Newton, Matthew Barney, Christie's

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