Auction Results: An Eye Towards the Real: Photographs from the Collection of Ambassador Trevor Traina, October 2, 2024 @Christie’s

In what is shaping up as an increasingly soft market, the consistent quality in the Trevor Traina collection of photographs delivered solid results at Christie’s last week. The top lot Andreas Gursky soccer stadium view sold within its range and an Alec Soth print soared to over $200K, helping boost the overall totals. A respectable 20% overall Buy-In rate was offset by a handful of positive surprises, leading to Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $3.25M) that came in 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 132
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $2695500
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $3982500
Total Lots Sold 105
Total Lots Bought In 27
Buy In % 20.45%
Total Sale Proceeds $3252564

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

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 62
Total Low Lots Sold 49
Total Low Lots Bought In 13
Low Buy In % 20.97%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots $426500
Total Proceeds from Low Lots $331506
Mid Total Lots 56
Total Mid Lots Sold 45
Total Mid Lots Bought In 11
Mid Buy In % 19.64%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $1306000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $1037358
Total High Lots 14
Total High Lots Sold 11
Total High Lots Bought In 3
High Buy In % 21.43%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $2250000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $1883700

The top lot by High estimate was lot 77, Andreas Gursky, Dortmund, 2009, estimated at $300000-500000; it was also the top outcome of the sale at $352800 (image above, via Christie’s.)

71.43% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 6 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Christie’s):

Lot 10, Garry Winogrand, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1957, estimated at $8000-10000, sold at $22680

Lot 47, Larry Sultan, Suburban Street in Studio, 2000, estimated at $10000-12000, sold at $30240

Lot 49, Slim Aarons, Poolside Glamour, 1970/later, estimated at $8000-12000, sold at $63000

Lot 88, Alec Soth, Charles, Vasa, Minnesota, 2002/2004, estimated at $60000-80000, sold at $201600

Lot 124, Matthew Porter, 110 Junction, 2010, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $32760

Lot 131, William Wegman, Red Cube Cub, 1995, estimated at $2000-3000, sold at $15120

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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Read more about: Alec Soth, Andreas Gursky, Garry Winogrand, Larry Sultan, Matthew Porter, Slim Aarons, William Wegman, Christie's

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