Auction Results: Contemporary Curated, November 21, 2017 @Sotheby’s London

The results for the photography included in Sotheby’s Contemporary Curated sale in London earlier this week were uneven but ultimately largely to form. One lot sold for just £63, while a nude by Torbjørn Rødland sold for more than 11X its high estimate, so the outcomes were all over the map. In the end, the overall Buy-In rate for photography came in at just over 20%, and with a few positive surprises, the Total Sale Proceeds fell solidly within the pre-sale estimate range.

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

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 48
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate £224800
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate £321000
Total Lots Sold 38
Total Lots Bought In 10
Buy In % 20.83%
Total Sale Proceeds £248026

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

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 25
Total Low Lots Sold 20
Total Low Lots Bought In 5
Low Buy In % 20.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots £59000
Total Proceeds from Low Lots £38276
Mid Total Lots 23
Total Mid Lots Sold 18
Total Mid Lots Bought In 5
Mid Buy In % 21.74%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots £262000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots £209750
Total High Lots 0
Total High Lots Sold NA
Total High Lots Bought In NA
High Buy In % NA
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots £0
Total Proceeds from High Lots NA

The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 138, Paul McCarthy, Fred Flintstone (from the Propo series), 1992, estimated at £18000-25000 (image in preview post). It was also the top photography outcome of the sale at £22500.

57.89% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 4 positive surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Sotheby’s):

Lot 119, Eileen Quinlan, Smoke & Mirrors #99, 2006, estimated at £1500-2000, sold at £4000

Lot 129, Torbjørn Rødland, Nudist No. 8, 1999, estimated at £500-700, sold at £8125

Lot 144, Malick Sidibé, Regardez-Moi, 1962/2000, estimated at £4000-6000, sold at £15000

Lot 200, Anthony Goicolea, Bed Wetters, 2000, estimated at £1000-1500, sold at £3250

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

Send this article to a friend

Read more about: Anthony Goicolea, Eileen Quinlan, Malick Sidibé, Torbjørn Rødland, Sotheby's

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.

Recent Articles

Auction Results: Post-War to Present, March 13, 2024 @Christie’s

Auction Results: Post-War to Present, March 13, 2024 @Christie’s

The results for the photography included in the recent Post-War to Present sale at Christie’s in New York were largely uneventful. The top lots (from Richard Prince, Cindy Sherman, and ... Read on.

Sign up for our weekly email newsletter