Auction Results: Contemporary Art Evening and Day Auctions, November 16 and 17, 2017 @Sotheby’s

The photography included in Sotheby’s recent Contemporary Art sales in New York hit all the right notes. The top lot Andreas Gursky print sold for over $1M, the overall Buy-In rate for photography was under 15%, and there were a couple of additional positive surprises to pump things up a bit more. In the end, the Total Sale Proceeds 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 36
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $3488000
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $4909000
Total Lots Sold 31
Total Lots Bought In 5
Buy In % 13.89%
Total Sale Proceeds $4658500

Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 4
Total Low Lots Sold 4
Total Low Lots Bought In 0
Low Buy In % 0.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots $25000
Total Proceeds from Low Lots $22000
Mid Total Lots 15
Total Mid Lots Sold 13
Total Mid Lots Bought In 2
Mid Buy In % 13.33%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $464000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $488750
Total High Lots 17
Total High Lots Sold 14
Total High Lots Bought In 3
High Buy In % 17.65%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $4420000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $4147750

The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 69, Andreas Gursky, Madonna I, 2001, estimated at $800000-1200000 (image in preview post). It was also the top photography outcome of the sales at $1035000.

93.55% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there was a total of 2 positive surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Sotheby’s):

Lot 430, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, W, March 2000, #12 from Cuba Libre, 2000, estimated at $30000-40000, sold at $125000

Lot 534, Thomas Struth, Baumgruppe bei Rutschwil No. 25, Winterthur, 1993, estimated at $8000-12000, sold at $27500

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

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Read more about: Andreas Gursky, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Thomas Struth, Sotheby's

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