A handful of Cindy Sherman prints helped support the wider photography offerings at a single collector contemporary art sale at Van Ham last week. While the top lot Helmut Newton and Thomas Demand prints didn’t sell, the Sherman prints sold well, and with a few other low priced positive surprises and an overall Buy-In rate for photography under 18%, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography (of just over €525K) came in near the top end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 122 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | €410000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | €587500 |
| Total Lots Sold | 101 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 21 |
| Buy In % | 17.21% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | €525533 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions). Given recent currency fluctuations, we have once again re-adapted our local currency thresholds to match roughly $10000 and $50000 break points between categories.
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 105 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 89 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 16 |
| Low Buy In % | 15.24% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | €185500 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | €184973 |
| Mid Total Lots | 15 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 12 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 3 |
| Mid Buy In % | 20.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | €272000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | €340560 |
| Total High Lots | 2 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 0 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 2 |
| High Buy In % | 100.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | €130000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | €0 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 1213, Helmut Newton, Nude of Kristen McMenamy, Monte Carlo (2 photographs), 1995, estimated at €50000-70000; it did not sell. The photography outcome was lot 1130, Cindy Sherman, Untitled #353, 2000, estimated at €15000-20000, sold at €52800 (image above, via Van Ham.)
92.08% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate. There were a total of 9 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Van Ham):
Lot 1010, Anonym, Lunar Photography / Three moon phases, c1970s, estimated at €400-600, sold at €1452
Lot 1012, Sigmar Polke, Ohne Titel, c1984, estimated at €400-600, sold at €1452
Lot 1130, Cindy Sherman, Untitled #353, 2000, estimated at €15000-20000, sold at €52800
Lot 1131, Cindy Sherman, Untitled #356, 2000, estimated at €15000-20000, sold at €46200
Lot 1132, Cindy Sherman, Untitled #358, 2000, estimated at €15000-20000, sold at €46200
Lot 1140, Cindy Sherman, Untitled #252, 1992, estimated at €12000-18000, sold at €36960
Lot 1199, Louis Faurer, Bus No 7. New York. N.Y., 1950/1990, estimated at €600-800, sold at €2640
Lot 1279, Anonym, Burning of the Hindenburg, 1937, estimated at €500-700, sold at €1452
Lot 1291, Kyoichi Sawada, Flee to Safety (Vietnam Refugees), 1965/1973, estimated at €500-700, sold at €1848
Complete lot by lot results can be found here.
