Led by 11 of the top 12 photography lots finding buyers, Sotheby’s delivered solid photo results in its Contemporary Art Evening and Day Auctions on November 11th and 12th. The overall Buy-In rate for photography hovered near a respectable 20% and the Total Sale Proceeds for photography came in just under a meaty $10M, strongly in the middle of the pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 52 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $7644000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $10897000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 41 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 11 |
| Buy In % | 21.15% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $9615688 |
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 | 1 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Low Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $6000 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $5313 |
| Mid Total Lots | 19 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 15 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 4 |
| Mid Buy In % | 21.05% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $471000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $410625 |
| Total High Lots | 32 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 26 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 6 |
| High Buy In % | 18.75% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $10420000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $9199750 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 5, Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #48, 1979, estimated at $1500000-2000000; it was also the top outcome of the sale at $2225000.
82.69% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there was only 1 positive surprise in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):
Lot 451, Louise Lawler, Tremaine Leger at Auction, 1988/1993, estimated at $30000-40000, sold at $81250 (image above, left, via Sotheby’s)
Complete lot by lot results can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).
