With the top lot Andreas Gursky print failing to sell, the photography in Sotheby’s recent Contemporary Art sales in London had to struggle to keep its head above water. A Wolfgang Tillmans abstract came to rescue, and between a Buy-In rate for photography near 20% and a handful of positive surprises, the Total Sale Proceeds managed to nearly catch the bottom of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 37 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | £2637000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | £3746000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 29 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 8 |
| Buy In % | 21.62% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | £2616000 |
Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 3 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 3 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Low Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | £15000 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | £25000 |
| Mid Total Lots | 14 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 11 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 3 |
| Mid Buy In % | 21.43% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | £181000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | £170250 |
| Total High Lots | 20 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 15 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 5 |
| High Buy In % | 25.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | £3550000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | £2420750 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 37, Andreas Gursky, Bahrain II, 2007, estimated at £550000-750000 (image in preview post); it did not sell. The top photography outcome was lot 2, Wolfgang Tillmans, Greifbar 26, 2014, estimated at £150000-200000, sold at £548750 (image above, via Sotheby’s).
96.55% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 5 positive surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Sotheby’s):
Lot 2, Wolfgang Tillmans, Greifbar 26, 2014, estimated at £150000-200000, sold at £548750
Lot 213, Wolfgang Tillmans, Blautopf I, 2001, estimated at £3000-5000, sold at £11875
Lot 267, Sigmar Polke, Untitled (photocopies in 4 parts), 2001, estimated at £4000-6000, sold at £26250
Lot 281, Shirin Neshat, Untitled (Rapture Series), 1999, estimated at £6000-8000, sold at £28750
Lot 286, Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild (P1), 2014, estimated at £4000-6000, sold at £21250
The complete lot by lot results can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).
