Auction Results: First Open | Post-War & Contemporary Art, December 14, 2022 @Christie’s (online)

The photography results from Christie’s recent First Open online sale were largely uneventful. After the top lot Richard Prince Instagram portrait failed to sell, a Rodney Graham print took the top lot honors, with the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $255K) coming 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 22
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $266500
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $391500
Total Lots Sold 17
Total Lots Bought In 5
Buy In % 22.73%
Total Sale Proceeds $256662

Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions):

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 8
Total Low Lots Sold 8
Total Low Lots Bought In 0
Low Buy In % 0.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots $51500
Total Proceeds from Low Lots $58842
Mid Total Lots 13
Total Mid Lots Sold 9
Total Mid Lots Bought In 4
Mid Buy In % 30.77%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $240000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $197820
Total High Lots 1
Total High Lots Sold 0
Total High Lots Bought In 1
High Buy In % 100.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $100000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $0

The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 24, Richard Prince, Untitled (Portrait), 2014, estimated at $70000-1000000; it did not sell. The top photography outcome of the sale was lot 231, Rodney Graham, Typewriter with Flour, 2003, estimated at $8000-12000, sold at $47880 (image above, via Christie’s.)

76.47% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 2 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Christie’s):

Lot 112, Wolfgang Tillmans, Lars in tube, 1993, estimated at $6000-8000, sold at $21420

Lot 231, Rodney Graham, Typewriter with Flour, 2003, estimated at $8000-12000, sold at $47880

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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Read more about: Rodney Graham, Wolfgang Tillmans, Christie's

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