While there were no photography lots on offer in Sotheby’s Contemporary Art evening sale last week, the few photo works available in the day sale performed admirably. Led by a small Richard Prince cowboy print which found a buyer at roughly $400K, the results boasted a low Buy-In rate and one positive surprise, leading to Total Sale Proceeds of just over $1M, topping the high end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 7 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $660000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $970000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 7 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $1068080 |
Here is the breakdown (using our usual Low, Mid, and High price tier definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 0 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | NA |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | NA |
| Low Buy In % | NA |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $0 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $0 |
| Mid Total Lots | 0 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | NA |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | NA |
| Mid Buy In % | NA |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $0 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $0 |
| Total High Lots | 7 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 7 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 0 |
| High Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $970000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $1068080 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 435, Richard Prince, Untitled (Cowboy), 1993, estimated at $200000-300000; it was also the photography outcome of the sales at $403200 (image above, via Sotheby’s.)
85.71% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there was just one positive surprise in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Sotheby’s):
Lot 497, Cindy Sherman, Cover Girl (Vogue) (3 prints), 1976-2011, estimated at $60000-80000, sold at $163800
The complete lot by lot results can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).
