The results for the photographs included in the recent online contemporary art sales at Christie’s in London (Monsoon: The Peter Simon Collection Online and Post-War and Contemporary Art Online) generally met expectations. An Olafur Eliasson grid work took the top lot honors, and with an overall Buy-In rate for photography hovering near 15%, the Total Sales Proceeds for photography (of roughly £485K) came in just above 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 | 76 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | £477500 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | £707100 |
| Total Lots Sold | 64 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 12 |
| Buy In % | 15.79% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | £483584 |
Here is the breakdown (using our usual Low, Mid, and High price tier definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 47 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 43 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 4 |
| Low Buy In % | 8.51% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | £189100 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | £146944 |
| Mid Total Lots | 29 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 21 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 8 |
| Mid Buy In % | 27.59% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | £518000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | £336640 |
| Total High Lots | 0 |
| Total High Lots Sold | NA |
| Total High Lots Bought In | NA |
| High Buy In % | NA |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | £0 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | £0 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was tied between two lots: Lot 918, Barbara Kruger, Face It! (Red), 2007, estimated at £22000-35000, and lot 989, Olafur Eliasson, Jokla Series, 2004, estimated at £26000-35000; the Eliasson work found a buyer at £44800 and was the top photography outcome of the sales (image above, via Christie’s), while the Kruger print sold at £35840.
Largely a result of a number of lots with no or low reserves, just 68.75% of the photo lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range. There were 3 positive surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate)(images above, via Christie’s):
Lot 843, Akram Zaatari, Damaged Negatives: Scratched Portrait of Mrs. Baqari, 2012, estimated at £1000-1500, sold at £8960
Lot 1037, Thomas Demand, Bullion, 2003, estimated at £2000-3000, sold at £7040
Lot 1045, Jean-Luc Mylayne, No 500¹, Mars 2006 – Mai 2007, 2006-2007, estimated at £3000-5000, sold at £14080
Complete lot by lot results can be found here (Monsoon: The Peter Simon Collection Online) and here (Post-War and Contemporary Art Online).
