Auction Results: Icons & Images: Fine & Vernacular Photographs, October 15, 2015 @Swann

Given the wider diversity of material routinely on offer at Swann Galleries, the results of the auction house’s sales are subject to more inherent variation than its competitors. So while the Total Sale Proceeds for the recent photography sale fell below the pre-sale range, that reality doesn’t seem quite as negative as it does at other houses. The overall Buy-In rate was just over 30%, there were a handful of positive surprises, and the outcomes were relatively consistent across the price tiers. Not so bad, given its nearly single-handed effort to make a market for vernacular material where one didn’t exist before.

The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 362
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $1598000
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $2330200
Total Lots Sold 247
Total Lots Bought In 115
Buy In % 31.77%
Total Sale Proceeds $1432146

Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 327
Total Low Lots Sold 225
Total Low Lots Bought In 102
Low Buy In % 31.19%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots $1395200
Total Proceeds from Low Lots $880596
Mid Total Lots 32
Total Mid Lots Sold 20
Total Mid Lots Bought In 12
Mid Buy In % 37.50%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $575000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $267800
Total High Lots 3
Total High Lots Sold 2
Total High Lots Bought In 1
High Buy In % 33.33%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $360000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $283750

The top lot by High estimate was tied between two lots: lot 182, Irving Penn, Pablo Picasso at La Californie, Cannes, 1957/1962, and lot 341, Sally Mann, Candy Cigarette, 1989, both estimated at $100000-150000. The Penn did not sell, while the Mann was the top outcome of the sale at $215000 (image in preview post).

82.19% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 6 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Swann):

Lot 20, Charles Seaver, Gordon, an Ex-Slave Escaped from Mississippi, 1863, estimated at $1400-1800, sold at $6500

Lot 51, Wilson Bentley, Group of 4 photographs of ice crystals, 1903-1920, estimated at $4000-6000, sold at $13125

Lot 188, Jim Marshall, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonius Monk, 1963, 1970/1993, estimated at $3500-4500, sold at $10000

Lot 225, Group of 6 photobooks from the collection of Monroe Wheeler, estimated at $800-1200, sold at $3750

Lot 267, Malcolm Browne, Burning monk, South Vietnam, 1963, estimated at $700-1000, sold at $2000

Lot 343, Sally Mann, Flipbook, 1979, estimated at $200-300, sold at $780

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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Read more about: Charles Seaver, Jim Marshall, Malcolm Browne, Sally Mann, Wilson Bentley, Swann Auction Galleries

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