The photography included in Christie’s First Open sale in London last week generally performed to expectations. The top lot Wolfgang Tillmans abstraction found a buyer, as did a David Hockney photocollage which matched the top price. Buoyed by a couple of other positive surprises, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography (of roughly £150K) 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 | 25 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | £139500 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | £207500 |
| Total Lots Sold | 17 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 8 |
| Buy In % | 32.00% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | £149310 |
Here is the breakdown (using our usual Low, Mid, and High price tier definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 17 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 13 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 4 |
| Low Buy In % | 23.53% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | £79500 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | £62370 |
| Mid Total Lots | 8 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 4 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 4 |
| Mid Buy In % | 50.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | £128000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | £86940 |
| 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 lot 47, Wolfgang Tillmans, Lighter Black Concave II, 2008, estimated at £20000-30000; it was one of two lots tied for the top photography outcome of the sale at £25200. The other was lot 103, David Hockney, Walking in the Zen Garden at the Royanji Temple, 1983, estimated at £15000-20000 (images above, via Christie’s).
76.47% of the photo lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were 2 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Christie’s):
Lot 107, Hamish Fulton, Coldharbour Moor, 1987, estimated at £3000-5000, sold at £11970
Lot 110, Prince Gyasi, Symbols of Womanhood, 2018, estimated at £2000-4000, sold at £11340
Complete lot by lot results can be found here.
