The online Fine Photographs sale at Swann last week generally performed to expectations. A respectable overall Buy-In rate of less than 20% was the positive headline, countered by the less encouraging data point that more than 45% of the lots that did sell did so at prices below their estimate ranges. When all the timers and extensions had expired, the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $780K) came in just above 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 | 266 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $759150 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $1135650 |
| Total Lots Sold | 213 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 53 |
| Buy In % | 19.92% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $781750 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High price range definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 254 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 204 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 50 |
| Low Buy In % | 19.69% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $903650 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $649250 |
| Mid Total Lots | 12 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 9 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 3 |
| Mid Buy In % | 25.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $232000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $132500 |
| 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 lot by High estimate was lot 111, Irving Penn, Blast, 1980/1981, estimated at $30000-45000; it did not sell. The top outcome of the sale was lot 223, Richard Avedon, George Harrison, 1967, estimated at $15000-20000, sold at $38000 (image above, via Swann).
54.46% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 12 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate). 5 of these lots were vernacular imagery (lot 9 Cased Images, lot 13 African Americana, lot 67 Cars & Racing, lot 96 Billboards – Pacific Outdoor Advertising, lot 210 Albert Einstein). The 7 positive surprises in fine photographs were as follows (images above via Swann):
Lot 38, Alice Austen, Portfolio entitled Street Types of New York, 1896, estimated at $3000-4500, sold at $12000
Lot 51, Lena Scott Harris, Group of approximately 65 hand-colored botanical studies, all apparently California native plants, c1930s, estimated at $1500-2500, sold at $30000
Lot 117, André Kertész, Distortion No. 114, Paris, 1933/1970s, estimated at $2500-3500, sold at $8000
Lot 140, Malick Sidibé, Two framed photographs, one of a mother with her children and the second with two girls, 1967, c1970, estimated at $1200-1800, sold at $3600
Lot 153, Irving Penn, Clown Playing Solitaire (Emmett Kelly), 1947, estimated at $4000-6000, sold at $12000
Lot 190, (Napoleon Sarony), Portrait of Oscar Wilde, 1882/c1910, estimated at $1000-1500, sold at $5200
Lot 200, H. Richardson Cremer, Portrait of Margaret Bourke-White with her camera, c1935, estimated at $800-1200, sold at $2800
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
That particular Lena Scott Harris hand-coloured plant study is gorgeous, best from the series of those I’ve seen.