The results from the recent Contemporary Discoveries sale at Sotheby’s in New York last week were largely uneventful. The top lot Catherine Opie portfolio failed to sell, dropping the top lot honors to a work by Christian Boltanski. With an overall Buy-In rate for photography under 20% and just a couple of positive surprises, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography (of roughly $375K) tallied up 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 | 25 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $304000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $433000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 22 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 3 |
| Buy In % | 12.00% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $376832 |
Here is the breakdown (using our usual Low, Mid, and High price tier definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 12 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 12 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Low Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $86000 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $65792 |
| Mid Total Lots | 12 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 10 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 2 |
| Mid Buy In % | 16.67% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $267000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $311040 |
| 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 296, Catherine Opie, 700 Nimes Road (50 prints), 2010-2011/2014, estimated at $60000-80000; it did not sell. The top photography outcome was lot 94, Christian Boltanski, Reliquaire (Le Fête de Pourim), 1989, estimated at $30000-50000, sold at $108800 (image above, via Sotheby’s.)
68.18% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were just 2 positive photographic surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (image above, via Sotheby’s):
Lot 94, Christian Boltanski, Reliquaire (Le Fête de Pourim), 1989, estimated at $30000-50000, sold at $108800
Lot 289, Sophie Calle, The Blind #10, 1986, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $32000
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
