The failure to find a buyer for the top photo lot (Cindy Sherman) and an overly large Buy-In rate for photography (near 40%) combined to dampen the results at Sotheby’s recent Contemporary Art sales in New York. Even with a handful of positive surprises, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography fell below the pre-sale estimate range. With this as a backdrop, the most intriguing data point was the relentless push upward for Cory Arcangel’s one click Photoshop gradients – the one on offer here sold for nearly 6 times its high estimate.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 48 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $6810000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $9943000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 29 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 19 |
| Buy In % | 39.58% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $5923750 |
Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 1 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 0 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 1 |
| Low Buy In % | 100.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $8000 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $0 |
| Mid Total Lots | 15 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 8 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 7 |
| Mid Buy In % | 46.67% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $475000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $227500 |
| Total High Lots | 32 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 21 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 11 |
| High Buy In % | 34.38% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $9460000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $5696250 |
The top photographic lot by High estimate was lot 54, Cindy Sherman, Untitled #153, 1985, estimated at $2000000-3000000; it did not sell. The top photographic outcome was lot 52, Thomas Struth, Pantheon, Rome, 1990, estimated at $800000-1200000, sold at $1810000 (image in preview post).
93.10% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 7 positive surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Sotheby’s):
Lot 224, Andy Warhol, Self Portraits in Drag (6 Works), 1980-1982, estimated at $70000-90000, sold at $274000
Lot 404, Barbara Kruger, Untitled (Provenance), 2015, estimated at $120000-180000, sold at $394000
Lot 437, Cory Arcangel, Photoshop CS: 110 by 72 inches, 300 DPI, RGB, Square Pixels…, 2008, estimated at $40000-60000, sold for $358000 (image in preview post)
Lot 470, Louise Lawler, Warhol/Marilyn (Blue), 1988, estimated at $1000090-150000, sold at $322000
Lot 472, Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #24, 1978, estimated at $70000-90000, sold at $237500
Lot 474, Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #28, 1979, estimated at $60000-80000, sold at $162500
Lot 558, Thomas Ruff, Stern 16H30M/-50 degrees, 1989, estimated at $60000-80000, sold at $187500
The complete lot by lot results can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).
