Auction Results: Adams & Company: Photographs of the American West Including Property from the Peter Fetterman Collection (online), May 25, 2022 @Christie’s

Drawn from the collection of gallery owner Peter Fetterman, this sale of western landscape material (heavy on the work of Ansel Adams) generally performed to expectations. A Moonrise print by Adams took the top lot honors, and a reasonable Buy-In rate (of 22%) kept the Total Sale Proceeds tally (of roughly $650K) squarely in 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 50
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $523500
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $770500
Total Lots Sold 39
Total Lots Bought In 11
Buy In % 22.00%
Total Sale Proceeds $649026

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

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 30
Total Low Lots Sold 25
Total Low Lots Bought In 5
Low Buy In % 16.67%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots $186500
Total Proceeds from Low Lots $195426
Mid Total Lots 18
Total Mid Lots Sold 12
Total Mid Lots Bought In 6
Mid Buy In % 33.33%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $454000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $283500
Total High Lots 2
Total High Lots Sold 2
Total High Lots Bought In 0
High Buy In % 0.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $130000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $170100

The top lot by High estimate was lot 6, Ansel Adams, Portfolio IV, What Majestic Word: In Memory of Russell Varian, 1963, estimated at $50000-70000; it found a buyer at $75600, but it wasn’t the top outcome of the sale. That honor went to lot 2, Ansel Adams, Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941/1973-1977, estimated at $40000-60000, sold at $94500 (image above, via Christie’s.)

97.44% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 2 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Christie’s):

Lot 40, Edward Curtis, The Three Chiefs – Piegan, 1900, estimated at $6000-8000, sold at $16380

Lot 48, Edward Curtis, Chief Garfield, Jicarilla and Bread, Apsaroke, 1904, 1908, estimated at $1500-2500, sold at $5040

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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