The photography lots available in Phillips’ Contemporary Art Day and Evening Sales in London performed right in line with their counterparts at Sotheby’s and Christie’s. Phillips had more photo lots and more estimated value on offer overall, but the buy-in rate was virtually the same and the Total Sale Proceeds for photography, while slightly larger than its rivals, fell meaningfully below the estimate range.

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

Total Lots: 54
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: £961500
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: £1373500
Total Lots Sold: 38
Total Lots Bought In: 16
Buy In %: 29.63%
Total Sale Proceeds: £790975

Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post, here):

Low Total Lots: 9
Low Sold: 6
Low Bought In: 3
Buy In %: 33.33%
Total Low Estimate: £31500
Total Low Sold: £25875

Mid Total Lots: 29
Mid Sold: 23
Mid Bought In: 6
Buy In %: 20.69%
Total Mid Estimate: £372000
Total Mid Sold: £296100

High Total Lots: 16
High Sold: 9
High Bought In: 7
Buy In %: 43.75%
Total High Estimate: £970000
Total High Sold: £469000

92.11% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above their estimate. There were no surprises in this sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate).

The top lot by High estimate was lot 18, Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #8, 1978, at £100000-150000; it did not sell. The top outcome in the sale was lot 20, Florian Maier–Aichen, Untitled (Saddle Peak), 2004, at £103250.

Complete lot by lot results can be found here (Day) and here (Evening).

Phillips De Pury & Company
Howick Place
London SW1P 1BB