Auction Results: Contemporary Art Evening and Day Actions, June 29 and 30, 2020 @Sotheby’s

With the major contemporary art sales taking their first pass through the new virus-ready world of hybrid/online art auctions, we’re getting our first look at the real time evolution of the new normal. For the photography, as seen at Sotheby’s recent Contemporary Art auctions in New York last week, the results were solid. With the top photo lot Richard Prince cowboy finding a buyer above $1.2M and a respectable Buy-In rate for photography of just over 17%, the momentum was decent, and when the dust settled, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography (of over $3.2M) found their way to 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 23
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $2814000
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $4311000
Total Lots Sold 19
Total Lots Bought In 4
Buy In % 17.39%
Total Sale Proceeds $3222000

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

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 2
Total Low Lots Sold 2
Total Low Lots Bought In 0
Low Buy In % 0.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots $18000
Total Proceeds from Low Lots $7000
Mid Total Lots 11
Total Mid Lots Sold 9
Total Mid Lots Bought In 2
Mid Buy In % 18.18%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $313000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $393750
Total High Lots 10
Total High Lots Sold 8
Total High Lots Bought In 2
High Buy In % 20.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $3980000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $2821250

The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 125, Richard Prince, Untitled (Cowboy), 2015, estimated at $1000000-1500000; it was also the top photography outcome of the sales at $1280000 (image above, via Sotheby’s).

84.21% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there was just 1 positive surprise in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (image above via Sotheby’s):

Lot 473, Andy Warhol, Francesco Clemente II; Joseph Beuys (two works), 1981, 1980, estimated at $8000-12000, sold at $30000

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

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Read more about: Andy Warhol, Richard Prince, Sotheby's

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