The photography results from Christie’s recent First Open online sale were largely uneventful. Photo-based works by Mickalene Thomas and Martin Kippenberger shared the top lot honors, but with no positive surprises and 35% of the selling lots finding buyers below their estimate ranges, the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $220K) came in just 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 | 25 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $224000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $328000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 20 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 5 |
| Buy In % | 20.00% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $221000 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 14 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 13 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 1 |
| Low Buy In % | 7.14% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $89000 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $62250 |
| Mid Total Lots | 11 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 7 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 4 |
| Mid Buy In % | 36.36% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $209000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $158750 |
| 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 photography lot by High estimate was tied between four lots, each estimated at $20000-30000: lot 21, Mickalene Thomas, Photomontage #3, 2008, lot 37, Martin Kippenberger, Untitled, 1995, lot 107, Vik Muniz, Vulcan Forges Cupid’s Arrows, after Alessandro Tiarini (Pictures of Junk), 2006, and lot 109, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Ionian Sea, Santa Cesarea, 1993. Both the Thomas and Kippenberger works sold at $35000, making them the top photography outcomes of the sale (images above, via Christie’s); the Muniz print sold at $20000, while the Sugimoto print did not sell.
65.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were no positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate).
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
