The photography buried in Phillips’ two Contemporary Art sales last week provided ample proof that if the available works are well edited and the Buy-In rate can be kept low, the overall results are usually plenty successful. In this case, less than 9% of the photographs on offer failed to find buyers, driving the Total Sale Proceeds over the top of aggregate pre-sale high estimate.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 34 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $2680000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $3980000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 31 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 3 |
| Buy In % | 8.82% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $4073250 |
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 | 19 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 18 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 1 |
| Mid Buy In % | 5.26% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $480000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $568750 |
| Total High Lots | 15 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 13 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 2 |
| High Buy In % | 13.33% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $3500000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $3504500 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 7, Andreas Gursky, Rhein, 1996, estimated at $1000000-1500000; it was also the top outcome of the sales at 1925000
82.35% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range, and there were a total of 3 surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):
Lot 194, Andreas Gursky, Untitled 1 (Carpet), 1993, estimated at $60000-80000, sold at $173000 (image at right, top, via Phillips)
Lot 210, Vik Muniz, Valentine, The Fastest from The Sugar Children, 1996, estimated at $20000-25000, sold at $81250 (image at right, middle, via Phillips)
Lot 252, Ruud van Empel, World #16, 2006, estimated at $12000-18000, sold at $43750 (image at right, bottom, via Phillips)
Complete lot by lot results can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).
