Sotheby’s chalked up the first $1M photograph of 2025 in its recent Modern and Contemporary Art sales in London. The mark was reached by a vintage 1924 photocollage by El Lissitzky, which found a buyer at £889000 (roughly $1.14M) in the evening sale. The rest of the photography on offer (in the day sale) also performed well, tallying up a tidy 0.00% overall Buy-In rate for photography. While there were no positive surprises, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography (of roughly £1.32M) easily topped the high end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 5 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | £655000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | £985000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 5 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | £1320800 |
Here is the breakdown (using our usual Low, Mid, and High price tier definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 0 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | NA |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | NA |
| Low Buy In % | NA |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | £0 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | £0 |
| Mid Total Lots | 1 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 1 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Mid Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | £35000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | £27940 |
| Total High Lots | 4 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 4 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 0 |
| High Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | £950000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | £1292860 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 30, El Lissitzky, Self-Portrait (The Constructor), 1924, estimated at £400000-600000; it was also the top photography outcome of the sales at £889000 (image above, via Sotheby’s).
100.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were no positive surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate).
The complete lot by lot results can be found here (Modern & Contemporary Evening) and here (Contemporary Day).
