Auction Results: Contemporary Curated featuring works from the Collection of Joni Gordon of Newspace Gallery, September 24, 2014 @Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s began its Fall season of contemporary art/photography yesterday in New York, and like the auction at Christie’s the day before, the photography available held its own just fine. Once again, there was softness at the end of the sale, but in this case, strength among the top photography lots mopped up the broader weakness in the lower priced offerings. Overall, the Buy-In rate came in over 35% (usually a bad sign), but the Total Sale Proceeds (for photography) fell solidly into the middle of the pre-sale estimate range.

The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 42
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $1246000
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $1781000
Total Lots Sold 27
Total Lots Bought In 15
Buy In % 35.71%
Total Sale Proceeds $1680875

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

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 6
Total Low Lots Sold 3
Total Low Lots Bought In 3
Low Buy In % 50.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots $44000
Total Proceeds from Low Lots $27500
Mid Total Lots 27
Total Mid Lots Sold 16
Total Mid Lots Bought In 11
Mid Buy In % 40.74%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $687000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $376875
Total High Lots 9
Total High Lots Sold 8
Total High Lots Bought In 1
High Buy In % 11.11%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $1050000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $1276500

The top lot by High estimate was lot 3, John Baldessari, 18th and Highland, National City, 1966-1967, estimated at $150000-250000; it was also the top outcome of the sale at $509000 (image featured in the preview post).

88.89% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range, but there was only 1 surprise in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) – the same John Baldessari lot referenced above.

The only other lot close to being a surprise was lot 240, Cindy Sherman, Untitled, 1984, estimated at $100000-150000, sold at $209000 (image above, left, via Sotheby’s).

Complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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