Auction Results: Contemporary Art Evening and Day Auctions, November 14 and 15, 2019 @Sotheby’s

The photographs sold in Sotheby’s Contemporary Art auctions in New York last week performed admirably. With the top photo lot Richard Prince work selling above its estimate range, a photography Buy-In rate of under 6%, and a few positive surprises thrown in for good measure, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography (of nearly $2.9M) came in far above 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 18
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $1412000
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $2096000
Total Lots Sold 17
Total Lots Bought In 1
Buy In % 5.56%
Total Sale Proceeds $2876250

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 9
Total Mid Lots Sold 8
Total Mid Lots Bought In 1
Mid Buy In % 11.11%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $216000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $365000
Total High Lots 9
Total High Lots Sold 9
Total High Lots Bought In 0
High Buy In % 0.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $1880000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $2511250

The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 419, Richard Prince, Untitled (Four Women Looking in the Same Direction), 1977, estimated at $250000-350000; it was also the top photography outcome of the sales at $530000 (image above, via Sotheby’s).

88.24% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there was 3 positive surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Sotheby’s):

Lot 124, Charles Gaines, Falling Leaves: Set 4, 1979, estimated at $30000-40000, sold at $150000

Lot 420, Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #49, 1979, estimated at $120000-180000, sold at $400000

Lot 508, Louise Lawler, I-O, 1993/1998, estimated at $20000-30000, sold at $65000

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

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Read more about: Charles Gaines, Cindy Sherman, Louise Lawler, Richard Prince, Sotheby's

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