The sluggishness that has dampened the results of several of the photography sales this fall season continued during the Contemporary Photographs sale at Sotheby’s last week. The top lot Wolfgang Tillmans abstractions both sold, but an overall Buy-In rate above 40% muted the rest of the action. When the dust settled, the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $1.1M) 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 | 73 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $1415000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $2166000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 43 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 30 |
| Buy In % | 41.10% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $1136016 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 26 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 14 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 12 |
| Low Buy In % | 46.15% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $199000 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $77616 |
| Mid Total Lots | 37 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 22 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 15 |
| Mid Buy In % | 40.54% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $937000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $453600 |
| Total High Lots | 10 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 7 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 3 |
| High Buy In % | 30.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $1030000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $604800 |
The top lot by High estimate was tied between two lots, both estimated at $150000-250000: lot 208, Wolfgang Tillmans, Freischwimmer 117, 2007, and lot 211, Wolfgang Tillmans, Freischwimmer 200, 2012; the yellow and green Tillmans abstraction took the top lot honors at $201600 (image above via Sotheby’s), while the white and blue Tillmans abstraction sold at $138600.
76.74% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there was just 1 positive surprise in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (image above via Sotheby’s):
Lot 201, Wolfgang Tillmans, Kate with Broccoli, 1996, estimated at $15000-25000, sold at $50400
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
