Two $100K+ outcomes for Cindy Sherman and Dorothea Lange prints led the way at the recent Fine Photographs sale at Swann last week in New York. With an overall Buy-In rate near 30% and some general softness throughout, even with more than a dozen positive surprises, the Total Sale Proceeds (of just over $1M) came in 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 | 316 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $1195400 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $1779050 |
| Total Lots Sold | 223 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 93 |
| Buy In % | 29.43% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $1060254 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High price range definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 295 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 209 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 86 |
| Low Buy In % | 29.15% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $1065050 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $652179 |
| Mid Total Lots | 19 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 12 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 7 |
| Mid Buy In % | 36.84% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $384000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $170575 |
| Total High Lots | 2 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 2 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 0 |
| High Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $330000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $237500 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 176, Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #52, 1979, estimated at $120000-180000; it was also the top outcome of the sale at $125000 (image above, via Swann).
71.30% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 13 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate)(images above via Swann):
Lot 7, Julia Margaret Cameron, A Study of the Cenci, 1870, estimated at $3000-4500, sold at $10400
Lot 46, Marion Post Wolcott, Kitchen in Negro tenant home. Mileston Plantation, Mississippi Delta, Mississippi, 1939, estimated at $1000-1500, sold at $3500
Lot 84, Godfrey Frankel, NYC, El Station, 1947/1950, estimated at $500-750, sold at $3640
Lot 86, Joe Schwartz, Miss America, Ocean Hill, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, 1940s, estimated at $700-1000, sold at $3000
Lot 127, Michael Kenna, Daybreak, Vaux le Vicomte, France, 1996, estimated at $1000-1500, sold at $3000
Lot 148, Gisele Freund, Portrait of Virginia Woolf, 1939/early 1980s, estimated at $1200-1800, sold at $4000
Lot 153, Gjon Mili, Pablo Picasso Drawing with Light, c1948, estimated at $3000-4500, sold at $11250
Lot 157, Victor Skrebneski, Bette Davis, 1971, estimated at $2000-3000, sold at $8125
Lot 164, Dennis Stock, Portrait of the American jazz musician Miles Davis, 1958/2000s, estimated at $700-1000, sold at $3000
Lot 218, George Platt Lynes, Lew Christensen as Orfeo, c1938, estimated at $2000-3000, sold at $7800
Lot 238, Werner Rohde, Wachspuppenkopf (wax dollhead), 1929, estimated at $1200-1800, sold at $5250
Lot 296, Jan Groover, Peppers, 1979, estimated at $1000-1500, sold at $3500
Lot 312, Robert A. Cumins, World Trade Center, September 11, 2001, 2001/later, estimated at $1500-2500, sold at $5250
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
