Swann stepped into the virus-driven online auction market with its Fine Photographs sale last week, and the results were generally muted. The top lot Robert Mapplethorpe print failed to sell, and there were just a handful of positive surprises across the diverse sale. With an overall Buy-In rate of roughly a third, the Total Sale Proceeds of roughly $850K 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 | 324 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $1128500 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $1684100 |
| Total Lots Sold | 217 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 107 |
| Buy In % | 33.02% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $852715 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High price range definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 298 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 203 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 95 |
| Low Buy In % | 31.88% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $1167100 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $678715 |
| Mid Total Lots | 26 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 14 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 12 |
| Mid Buy In % | 46.15% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $517000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $174000 |
| 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 34, Robert Mapplethorpe, Lisa Lyon, 1980, estimated at $30000-45000; it did not sell. The top outcome of the sale was lot 33, Michael Halsband, Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, 1985/1997, estimated at $20000-30000, sold at $27500 (image above, via Swann).
69.12% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 5 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate). One of these lots came in the vernacular imagery section (lot 305, Trains). The 4 positive surprises in fine photographs were as follows (images above via Swann):
Lot 46, Carleton Watkins/Isaiah Taber, The Three Brothers, 3,818 feet, reflected, Yosemite, California, 1865-1866/1880s, estimated at $700-1000, sold at $2210
Lot 72, Edward Curtis, Maid of Dreams, 1909, estimated at $4000-6000, sold at $13750
Lot 262, Lucas Samaras, Photo Transformation, 11/8/73, 1973, estimated at $5000-7500, sold at $15000
Lot 320, (Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray), A double lenticular object featuring two Man Ray portraits of Duchamp, one as his alter-ego Rrose Sélavy, 1920 and 1924/1970s, estimated at $700-1000, sold at $5250
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
