Photography-wise, Phillips fared the worst of the big three in the recent Contemporary Art sales in London. The auction house’s photo results were quite a bit softer than the preceding sales at Sotheby’s and Christie’s, with the total sale proceeds for photography falling below the estimate range. For a sense of scale, Sotheby’s total proceeds for photography earlier in the week were more than four times higher.

The summary statistics for the photography lots in the two sales are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):

Total Lots: 27
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: £774000
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: £1097000
Total Lots Sold: 19
Total Lots Bought In: 8
Buy In %: 29.63%
Total Sale Proceeds: £622525

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

Low Total Lots: 5
Low Sold: 5
Low Bought In: 0
Buy In %: 00.00%
Total Low Estimate: £12000
Total Low Sold: £12500

Mid Total Lots: 10
Mid Sold: 7
Mid Bought In: 3
Buy In %: 30.00%
Total Mid Estimate: £100000
Total Mid Sold: £89125

High Total Lots: 12
High Sold: 7
High Bought In: 5
Buy In %: 41.67%
Total High Estimate: £985000
Total High Sold: £520900

The top lot by High estimate was lot 6, John Baldessari, Puzzle (Two Views), 1989, at £200000-300000; it was also the top photo outcome of the two sales at £193250. (Image at right, top, via Phillips.)

94.74% of the photo lots that sold had proceeds in or above their estimate. There was only one surprise in this sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 194, Axel Hütte, Houston, Rice, 2006, at £17500. (Image at right, via Phillips.)

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

Phillips De Pury & Company
Howick Place
London SW1P 1BB