Having roundly bested its competitors in the race for contemporary photography consignments in the recent Contemporary Art season in New York, it was only fitting that Sotheby’s would garner some solid photo outcomes when the sales actually took place. This was generally the case last week, with the three photo lots in the Evening sale all finding buyers, and the rest of the available photo works performing respectably. The overall Buy-In rate for photography was an admirable 20%, and while there was only one positive surprise, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography topped $5.6M and fell easily into the middle of the pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 25 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $4250000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $7438000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 20 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 5 |
| Buy In % | 20.00% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $5680000 |
Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):
| 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 | NA |
| Mid Total Lots | 6 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 4 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 2 |
| Mid Buy In % | 33.33% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $183000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $170000 |
| Total High Lots | 19 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 16 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 3 |
| High Buy In % | 15.79% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $7255000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $5510000 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 31, Richard Prince, Untitled (Cowboy), 1997, estimated at $1200000-1800000 (image in preview post); it was also the top photography outcome of the sales at $1452500.
85.00% 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) (image above via Sotheby’s):
Lot 431, Adrian Ghenie, Study for Boogyman, 2010, estimated at $18000-25000, sold at $75000
The complete lot by lot results can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).
