It was a solid outing for Swann at its Fine Photographs sale last week in New York. All the metrics fell into respectable ranges: an overall Buy-In rate around 23%, plenty of positive surprises (14), and decent performance by the top lots. When the dust settled, the Total Sale Proceeds (of just under $1.14M) 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 | 329 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $1073650 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $1599150 |
| Total Lots Sold | 253 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 76 |
| Buy In % | 23.10% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $1143417 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High price range definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 307 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 236 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 71 |
| Low Buy In % | 23.13% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $1172150 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $859753 |
| Mid Total Lots | 22 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 17 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 5 |
| Mid Buy In % | 22.73% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $427000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $283664 |
| 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 tied between three lots, each estimated at $25000-35000: lot 26, Ansel Adams, Winter Sunrise, Sierra Nevada, from Lone Pine, California, 1944/1978, lot 229, Baron Adolph de Meyer, Portraits of American Women (album of 65 photographs), c1900-20, and lot 242, Eugène Atget, Coiffeur, Avenue de l’Observatoire, Paris, 1926; the Adams print sold at $33020, the de Meyer print failed to sell, and the Atget print sold at $25400, but none of these was the top lot in the sale. That honor went to lot 314, Steve McCurry, Children (portfolio of 10 prints), 1992-2001/2010, estimated at $15000-20000, sold at $35560 (image above, via Swann).
69.57% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 14 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate)(images above via Swann):
Lot 14, Peter Henry Emerson, The Old Order and the New, 1886, estimated at $2000-3000, sold at $6858
Lot 15, George Barker, Florida Landscape, 1886, estimated at $150-250, sold at $3810
Lot 49, Anonymous, Visitors to shooting galleries (105 prints), c1940-1970, estimated at $1500-2500, sold at $5334
Lot 118, Clarence John Laughlin, Positive and Negative Shadows, 1953, estimated at $700-1000, sold at $3048
Lot 160, George Platt Lynes, Portrait of Jacques d’Amboise in Paul Cadmus’ costume for the revival of the ballet “Filling Station”, 1953, estimated at $1500-2500, sold at $6336
Lot 170, Allen Ginsberg, Group portrait in garden of Villa Mouneria, Tangier, 1961/1989, estimated at $2000-3000, sold at $6350
Lot 187, Herbert Bayer, Advertising Postcard (Self-portrait), 1924, estimated at $500-700, sold at $2413
Lot 211, George Platt Lynes, Yul Brynner, 1951, estimated at $2500-3500, sold at $8890
Lot 219, Francesca Woodman, Untitled, New York, 1979-80/1990s, estimated at $4000-6000, sold at $12065
Lot 236, Edward Maxey (Mapplethorpe), Naomi Campbell, 1990, estimated at $1000-1500, sold at $4318
Lot 262, Ruth Orkin, American Girl in Italy, 1951/1980, estimated at $6000-9000, sold at $25400
Lot 286, W. Eugene Smith, Saipan (two soldiers), 1944/1950s, estimated at $5000-7500, sold at $33020
Lot 300, Lucas Samaras, Photo-transformation 11/5/73, 1973, estimated at $2500-3500, sold at $15240
Lot 309, Carrie Mae Weems, Untitled (Woman and Daughter with Makeup), from the Kitchen Table Series, 1990/1999, estimated at $2500-3500, sold at $7620
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
