The photographs buried in Sotheby’s recent Contemporary Art auctions in New York performed admirably. Led by a Richard Prince cowboy finding a buyer at just under $1.7M, and supported by a photography Buy-In rate of under 6% (only one photo lot went unsold), the Total Sale Proceeds for photography came in near the top end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 17 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $3450000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $4915000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 16 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 1 |
| Buy In % | 5.88% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $4661500 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High 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 | 4 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 4 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Mid Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $105000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $118750 |
| Total High Lots | 13 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 12 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 1 |
| High Buy In % | 7.69% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $4810000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $4542750 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 47, Richard Prince, Untitled (Cowboy), 2013, estimated at $1200000-1800000. It was also the top photography outcome of the sales at $1695000 (image above, via Sotheby’s).
93.75% 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) (images above via Sotheby’s):
Lot 512, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Ligurian Sea, Savoire, 1993, estimated at $120000-180000, sold at $435000
The complete lot by lot results can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).
