While there were no photography lots included in the 20th/21st Century or The Art of the Surreal evening sales at Christie’s in London last week, the photographs sprinkled through the Vanthournout Collection Evening and Day and Post-War and Contemporary Art Day sales performed admirably. The top lot Wolfgang Tillmans abstraction found a buyer within its pre-sale estimate range, only to be topped by a Man Ray later print, which jumped to over £405K, more than 5X its pre-sale high estimate. The overall Buy-In rate for photography across the sales was a tidy 0.00%, and even with just one positive surprise (the Man Ray print), the Total Sales Proceeds for photography (of roughly £970K) came in well above 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 | 13 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | £419000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | £628000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 13 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | £971550 |
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 | 6 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 6 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Mid Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | £113000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | £162560 |
| Total High Lots | 7 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 7 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 0 |
| High Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | £515000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | £808990 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 711, Wolfgang Tillmans, Einzelgänger II, 2003, estimated at £120000-180000; it found a buyer at £165100, but it was not the top photography outcome of the sales. That honor went to lot 209, Man Ray, La prière (The prayer), 1930/1971, estimated at £50000-70000, sold at £406400 (image above, via Christie’s.)
100.00% of the photo lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there was just 1 positive surprise in the sales – the Man Ray print above (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate).
Complete lot by lot results can be found here (Vanthournout Collection evening), here (Vanthournout Collection day) and here (Post-War and Contemporary Art day).
