The photographs included in the recent Contemporary Art Day sale at Sotheby’s generally performed well. With no photography lots in the high profile Robert Mnuchin collection sale nor in the Now & Contemporary Evening auction, a number of decently high priced lots drifted down to the day sale where they attracted more attention. A blurred Gerhard Richter nude descending a staircase took the top lot honors, and even with no positive surprises, the low Buy-In rate for photography (under 5%) led to Total Sale Proceeds for photography (of roughly $2.6M) fell squarely in the middle of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 21 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $2058500 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $2922700 |
| Total Lots Sold | 20 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 1 |
| Buy In % | 4.76% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $2623960 |
Here is the breakdown (using our usual Low, Mid, and High price tier definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 4 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 4 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Low Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $15700 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $14720 |
| Mid Total Lots | 5 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 4 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 1 |
| Mid Buy In % | 20.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $117000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $83200 |
| Total High Lots | 12 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 12 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 0 |
| High Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $2790000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $2526040 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was tied between two lots, each estimated at $500000-700000: lot 340, Gerhard Richter, Ema (Akt auf einer Treppe), 1992, and lot 717, Richard Prince, Spiritual America IV, 2005; the Richter print sold at $588800 and was the top photography outcome in the sale (image above, via Sotheby’s), while the Prince print sold at $384000.
75.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were no positive surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate).
The complete lot by lot results can be found here (Contemporary Day).
