Auction Results: Contemporary Curated, March 3, 2016 @Sotheby’s

The results for the photography buried in Sotheby’s recent Contemporary Curated sale in New York were largely lackluster. While the top photo lot Gursky did find a buyer, the overall Buy-In rate for photography was too high (over 48%) and there were too few positive surprises to generate much forward momentum. As a result, the Total Sale Proceeds feel below the aggregate pre-sale low estimate.

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

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 33
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $908000
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $1251000
Total Lots Sold 17
Total Lots Bought In 16
Buy In % 48.48%
Total Sale Proceeds $800125

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

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 5
Total Low Lots Sold 1
Total Low Lots Bought In 4
Low Buy In % 80.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots $38000
Total Proceeds from Low Lots $6250
Mid Total Lots 25
Total Mid Lots Sold 14
Total Mid Lots Bought In 11
Mid Buy In % 44.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $533000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $282625
Total High Lots 3
Total High Lots Sold 2
Total High Lots Bought In 1
High Buy In % 33.33%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $680000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $511250

The top lot by High estimate was lot 207, Andreas Gursky, PCF, Paris, 2003, estimated at $350000-450000; it was also the top photo outcome of the sale at $430000 (image in preview post).

94.12% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range, and there was only 1 positive surprise in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (image above via Sotheby’s):

Lot 302, Richard Prince, Untitled (52 Tweets), 2014, estimated at $8000-12000, sold at $32500

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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