The results of the photography included in Sotheby’s recent Contemporary Curated sale in London were all over the map. The top end of the photography offerings were choppy, with the top lot Andreas Gursky print failing to sell. And at the bottom end, some photography lots dropped to prices as low as £125. But in between, the overall Buy-In rate for photography was under 20% and there were a handful of positive surprises to pump up the numbers. In the end, the Total Sale Proceeds couldn’t quite reach then low end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 51 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | £410900 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | £575600 |
| Total Lots Sold | 41 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 10 |
| Buy In % | 19.61% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | £398353 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 28 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 27 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 1 |
| Low Buy In % | 3.57% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | £56600 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | £63978 |
| Mid Total Lots | 17 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 12 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 5 |
| Mid Buy In % | 29.41% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | £159000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | £178125 |
| Total High Lots | 6 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 2 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 4 |
| High Buy In % | 66.67% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | £360000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | £156250 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 33, Andreas Gursky, Love Parade, 2001, estimated at £90000-120000; it did not sell. The top photography outcome of the sale was lot 32, Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #63, 1980, estimated at £50000-70000, sold at £93750 (image above, via Sotheby’s).
Only 60.98% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 4 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Sotheby’s):
Lot 26, Torbjørn Rødland, Nudist No. 5, 1999, estimated at £2000-3000, sold at £7500
Lot 27, Torbjørn Rødland, Visitation II, 2000, estimated at £2000-3000, sold at £6875
Lot 29, Wolfgang Tillmans, Adam Doing Up Boot, 1991/1994, estimated at £2500-3500, sold at £10000
Lot 122, Shirin Neshat, Soliloquy series (Figure in Front of Steps), 1999, estimated at £15000-20000, sold at £82500
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
