The depth of the demand for the work of Richard Avedon proved to be staggeringly deep at Christie’s in Paris last week. It was a white glove outcome (every lot sold), with the Total Sale Proceeds clearing the Total High Estimate by more than 2000000€. An amazing 86.15% of the lots sold above their estimate range. However you slice it, it was a thoroughly impressive result.
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Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post, here):
98.46% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate. There were a total of 18 surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):Lot 3, Richard Avedon, Suzy Parker and Robin Tattersall, Dress by Dior, Place de la Concorde, Paris, August 1956, 1956/2002, at 217000€ (image at right, middle, via Christie’s)
Lot 23, Richard Avedon, Alberto Giacometti, sculptor, Paris, 3-6-58, 1958/1980, at 20000€
Lot 28, Richard Avedon, Pablo Picasso, April, 1958, 1958/1959, at 97000€
Lot 29, Richard Avedon, William Casby, born in slavery, Algiers, Louisiana, 3-24-63, 1963, at 56200€
Lot 33, Richard Avedon, Andy Warhol and Group, October 1969, 1969, at 301000€
Lot 34, Richard Avedon, Rudolph Nureyev, dancer, New York City, 5-31-67, 1967/1980, at $41800
Lot 35, Richard Avedon, Rudolph Nureyev, Paris, France, July 25, 1961, 1961/1999, at 39400€
Lot 45, Richard Avedon, Lauren Hutton, Great Exuma, the Bahamas, October 1968, 1968/1978, at 67000€
Lot 51, Richard Avedon, Samuel Beckett, Paris, France, April 13, 1979, 1979, at 92200€
Lot 55, Richard Avedon, John Ford, director, Bel Air, California, 4-11-72, 1972/1975, at 39400€
Lot 56, Richard Avedon, Chet Baker, singer, New York City, January 16, 1986, 1986/2002, at 39400€
Lot 58, Richard Avedon, Audrey Hepburn and Art Buchwald with Simone, Barbara Mullen, Frederick Eberstadt, and Dr. Reginald Kernan, Evening dresses by Balmain, Dior, Patou, Maxim’s, Paris, August, 1959, 1959/1997, at 73000€
Lot 59, Richard Avedon, Suzy Parker and Robin Tattersall, Evening Dress by Gres, Moulin Rouge, Paris, August 1957, 1957/1977, at 70600€
Lot 61, Richard Avedon, Malgosia Bela and Gisele Bundchen, Dresses by Dior Couture, New York City, March 13, 2000, 2000/2001, at 67000€ (image at right, bottom, via Christie’s)
Lot 62, Richard Avedon, Malgosia Bela, Body Jewel by Tom Binns, New York City, March 13, 2000, 2000/2001, at 49000€
Lot 63, Richard Avedon, Made in France, 2001, at 8750€
Lot 64, Richard Avedon, Richard Avedon: Portraits, 2002, at $16250
Lot 65, Richard Avedon, Richard Avedon, self-portrait, New York City, c1963, 1963/1993, at 103000€ (image at right, top, via Christie’s)
Complete lot by lot results can be found here.
