It was a largely uneventful outing at the Fine Photographs (plus lots from a single owner/collector) sale at Swann last week. The top lot Richard Avedon print didn’t sell, but the overall Buy-In rate was a respectable 26% and a handful of positive surprises helped counteract the passed lots. When the dust settled, the Total Sale Proceeds (of just over $1.1M) came in a fraction below 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 | 238 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $1156900 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $1732100 |
| Total Lots Sold | 176 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 62 |
| Buy In % | 26.05% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $1108387 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High price range definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 201 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 150 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 51 |
| Low Buy In % | 25.37% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $985100 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $677112 |
| Mid Total Lots | 37 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 26 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 11 |
| Mid Buy In % | 29.73% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $747000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $431275 |
| Total High Lots | 0 |
| Total High Lots Sold | NA |
| Total High Lots Bought In | NA |
| High Buy In % | NA |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $0 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $0 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 16, Richard Avedon, Portrait of the artist Georgia O’Keeffe, 1958, estimated at $30000-50000; it did not sell. The top outcome of the sale was tied between two lots, each selling at $35000: lot 1, Ansel Adams, Monolith, the Face of Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, 1927/1973-1977, estimated at $25000-35000, and lot 20, Irving Penn, Breton Onion Seller, London, 1950, estimated at $20000-30000 (images above, via Swann).
77.27% 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 Swann):
Lot 120, Wright Morris, Gano Grain Elevator, Wood River, Nebraska, 1940, estimated at $3000-4500, sold at $10000
Lot 136, George Platt Lynes, Francis Burton “Kiko” Harrison, 1942, estimated at $2000-3000, sold at $6500
Lot 139, Peter Hujar, Fruit, for Elizabeth, 1981, estimated at $6000-9000, sold at $27500
Lot 146, Werner Bischof, Courtyard of the Meiji Shrine, Tokyo, Japan, 1951, estimated at $2000-3000, sold at $9375
Lot 238, Carrie Mae Weems, Untitled, from Not Manet’s Type, 1997/2001, estimated at $2500-3500, sold at $7000
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
