The failure to sell the top lot Andreas Gursky stock exchange print at Phillips’ London Contemporary Art sales last week was an unfortunate cap to an otherwise respectable photography outing. The overall Buy-In rate came in under 20%, and if the Gursky had sold somewhere inside its estimate, the Total Sale Proceeds would have fallen squarely in the middle of the pre-sale range. As it was, that £650000+ was sorely missed, and the results fell far below the low end of the aggregate estimate.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 22 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | £1956000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | £2822000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 18 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 4 |
| Buy In % | 18.18% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | £1675125 |
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 | £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 | £117000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | £139625 |
| Total High Lots | 13 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 10 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 3 |
| High Buy In % | 23.08% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | £2705000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | £1535500 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 17, Andreas Gursky, Chicago, Mercantile Exchange, 1997, estimated at £650000-850000; it did not sell. The top photography outcome of the sales was lot 16, Andreas Gursky, James Bond Island III, 2007, estimated at £300000-500000, sold at £362500.
94.44% of the photo lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 2 surprises in the two sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Phillips):
Lot 159, Gerhard Richter, Abstractes Bild,1990, CR 724-4, 2014, estimated at £4000-6000, sold at £36250
Lot 185, Thomas Ruff, Nudes fe16, 2000, estimated at £25000-35000, sold at £74500
Complete lot by lot results can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).
