Softness in the upper price tiers dampened the photography results from the recent Contemporary Discoveries online sale at Sotheby’s last week. While the top lot Matthew Barney print failed to sell, two Gerhard Richter black-and-white abstractions doubled their high estimates to share the top lot honors. With an overall Buy-In rate for photography of 30%, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography (of roughly $375K) fell meaningfully below the low end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 60 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $516000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $768000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 41 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 18 |
| Buy In % | 30.00% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $376614 |
Here is the breakdown (using our usual Low, Mid, and High price tier definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 39 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 31 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 8 |
| Low Buy In % | 20.51% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $238000 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $125874 |
| Mid Total Lots | 19 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 10 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 9 |
| Mid Buy In % | 47.37% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $450000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $250740 |
| Total High Lots | 1 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 0 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 1 |
| High Buy In % | 100.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $80000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $0 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 92, Matthew Barney, CR 1: Ms Goodyear, 1995, estimated at $50000-70000; it did not sell. The top photography outcome in the sale was tied between two lots: lot 73, Gerhard Richter, Untitled (2.11), 1989, estimated at $20000-30000, and lot 82, Gerhard Richter, Untitled (7.11), 1989, estimated at $20000-30000; both lots sold at $60480 (images above, via Sotheby’s.)
Just 53.66% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 3 positives surprise in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (image above, via Sothebys):
Lot 73, Gerhard Richter, Untitled (2.11), 1989, estimated at $20000-30000, sold at $60480
Lot 82, Gerhard Richter, Untitled (7.11), 1989, estimated at $20000-30000, sold at $60480
Lot 109, Roxanne Lowit, Three Models in a Tub, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, Paris, 1990, estimated at $4000-6000, sold at $22680
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
