Auction Results: Contemporary Art Evening and Day Auctions, March 7 and 8, 2018 @Sotheby’s London

A Richard Prince cowboy print leaped its way across the £1 million mark in London last week, supporting the photography included in the recent Contemporary Art sales at Sotheby’s. A selection of mid-1980s prints from Andreas Gursky also provided a positive spark, and when the dust settled, the Total Sale Proceeds fell 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 34
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate £2140000
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate £2999000
Total Lots Sold 26
Total Lots Bought In 8
Buy In % 23.53%
Total Sale Proceeds £2566000

Here is the breakdown (using our usual Low, Mid, and High price tier 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 £7000
Total Proceeds from Low Lots £10000
Mid Total Lots 13
Total Mid Lots Sold 10
Total Mid Lots Bought In 3
Mid Buy In % 23.08%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots £157000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots £160000
Total High Lots 19
Total High Lots Sold 14
Total High Lots Bought In 5
High Buy In % 26.32%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots £2835000
Total Proceeds from High Lots £2396000

The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 46, Richard Prince, Untitled (Cowboy), 1999, estimated at £700000-900000; it was also the top photography outcome of the sales at £1029000 (image above, via Sotheby’s).

100.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 3 positive surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Sotheby’s):

Lot 224, Andreas Gursky, Essen, 1984, estimated at £6000-8000, sold at £22500

Lot 225, Andreas Gursky, Dusseldorf, Rhein, 1985, estimated at £4000-6000, sold at £16250

Lot 227, Andreas Gursky, Yeilbohm, Dolomiten, 1987, estimated at £20000-30000, sold at £60000

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

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Read more about: Andreas Gursky, Richard Prince, Sotheby's

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