Weakness among the top photography lots softened the overall results at the recent Contemporary Discoveries sale at Sotheby’s in New York last week. The top lot Richard Prince images failed to sell, dropping the top lot honors to a print by Ruud van Empel. With just one positive surprise (a print by David Benjamin Sherry) to balance the high priced passes, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography (of roughly $200K) came in well 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 | 22 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $299000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $445500 |
| Total Lots Sold | 14 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 8 |
| Buy In % | 36.36% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $203835 |
Here is the breakdown (using our usual Low, Mid, and High price tier definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 9 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 7 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 2 |
| Low Buy In % | 22.22% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $64500 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $57150 |
| Mid Total Lots | 12 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 7 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 5 |
| Mid Buy In % | 41.67% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $311000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $146685 |
| 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 | $70000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $0 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 150, Richard Prince, Untitled (Three Women’s Hands with Gloves), 1980, estimated at $50000-70000; it did not sell. The top photography outcome was lot 134, Ruud van Empel, World #26, 2008, estimated at $30000-50000, sold at $44450 (image above, via Sotheby’s.)
85.71% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there was just 1 positive photographic surprise in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (image above, via Sotheby’s):
Lot 56, David Benjamin Sherry, Looking toward Valley of the Gods, Bears Ears National Monument, Utah, 2017, estimated at $7000-10000, sold at $25400
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
