Auction Results: Contemporary Curated, September 20, 2016 @Sotheby’s London

The results for the photography included in Sotheby’s Contemporary Curated sale in London earlier this were largely uneventful. The lead lot Andreas Gursky print sold above its estimate range and Gerhard Richter’s photographic multiples continued to overperform. With an overall Buy-In rate for photography under 25% and a few positive surprises, the Total Sale Proceeds fell within the pre-sale estimate range.

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

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 32
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate £217200
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate £309700
Total Lots Sold 25
Total Lots Bought In 7
Buy In % 21.88%
Total Sale Proceeds £249188

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

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 17
Total Low Lots Sold 16
Total Low Lots Bought In 1
Low Buy In % 5.88%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots £33700
Total Proceeds from Low Lots £31688
Mid Total Lots 12
Total Mid Lots Sold 8
Total Mid Lots Bought In 4
Mid Buy In % 33.33%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots £136000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots £105000
Total High Lots 3
Total High Lots Sold 1
Total High Lots Bought In 2
High Buy In % 66.67%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots £140000
Total Proceeds from High Lots £112500

The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 45, Andreas Gursky, Gardasee, 1986-1993, estimated at £40000-60000 (image in preview post); it was also the top photography outcome of the sale at £112500.

84.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 6 positive surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Sotheby’s):

Lot 8, Gerhard Richter, Haggadah (P2), 2014, estimated at £4000-6000, sold at £22500

Lot 46, Gerhard Richter, Fence (P13), 2015, estimated at £2000-3000, sold at £8125

Lot 121, Fabian Marti, Hippie Sur La Route (Kaleidoscope), 2007, estimated at £100-150, sold at £313

Lot 131, Gerda Steiner & Jörg Lenzlinger, Brainforest Kanazawa, 2004, estimated at £200-300, sold at £625

Lot 132, Gerda Steiner & Jörg Lenzlinger, Brainforest Kanazawa, 2004, estimated at £200-300, sold at £750

Lot 133, Nicolas Ruel, Import, 2006, estimated at £500-700, sold at £1875

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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Read more about: Fabian Marti, Gerda Steiner & Jörg Lenzlinger, Gerhard Richter, Nicolas Ruel, Sotheby's

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