While there a decent number of photographs mixed into the sprawling Contemporary Discoveries sale at Sotheby’s in New York earlier this week, they didn’t generate much in the way of unexpected excitement. The top photo lots didn’t provide much surprise, and with nearly 48% of the lots that did sell doing so below their estimate ranges, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography (of roughly $340K) came in underneath 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 | 58 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $390300 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $579900 |
| Total Lots Sold | 46 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 12 |
| Buy In % | 20.69% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $343789 |
Here is the breakdown (using our usual Low, Mid, and High price tier definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 41 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 35 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 6 |
| Low Buy In % | 14.63% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $255900 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $152654 |
| Mid Total Lots | 17 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 11 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 6 |
| Mid Buy In % | 35.29% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $324000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $191135 |
| Total High Lots | 0 |
| Total High Lots Sold | NA |
| Total High Lots Bought In | NA |
| High Buy In % | NA |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $0 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $0 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was tied between three lots, each estimated at $20000-30000: lot 887, Jeff Wall, River Road, 1994, lot 905, Peter Beard, Elephant bones at Sala gate, Galana (Tsavo die-off), 1976/later, and lot 936, Gregory Crewdson, Untitled (Natural Bridge), 2007; the Crewdson print was the top photography outcome in the sale at $30480 (image above, via Sotheby’s), while the Wall print found a buyer at $22860 and the Beard print failed to sell.
Just 52.17% 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 944, Alfred Eisenstaedt, A LIFE Portfolio: Alfred Eisenstaedt’s Brooklyn Bridge Photographed for Its 100th Anniversary, 1983, estimated at $3000-5000, sold at $20320
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
