While there wasn’t much highly valuable photography on offer in Phillips’ entry level New Now sale in New York last week, the photography that was included generally met expectations. The combination of the top lot Vik Muniz portfolio finding a buyer, an overall Buy-In Rate for photography just above 15%, and a few positive surprises led to Total Sale Proceeds for photography of roughly $300K, comfortably in the middle of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 24 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $288000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $407000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 20 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 4 |
| Buy In % | 16.67% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $320375 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High price tier definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 13 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 11 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 2 |
| Low Buy In % | 15.38% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $88000 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $95375 |
| Mid Total Lots | 9 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 8 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 1 |
| Mid Buy In % | 11.11% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $179000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $175000 |
| Total High Lots | 2 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 1 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 1 |
| High Buy In % | 50.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $140000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $50000 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 182, Vik Muniz, The Best of LIFE (portfolio), 1989/1995, estimated at $60000-80000; it sold at $50000. The top photography outcome of the sale was lot 179, Paul McCarthy, Fancy Tomato Ketchup from the series PROPO, 1991/2009, estimated at $20000-30000, sold at $52500 (image above, via Phillips.)
80.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 2 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate)(images above, via Phillips):
Lot 133, Radcliffe Bailey, Untitled, 2001, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $30000
Lot 178, Roe Ethridge, Sunset, 2008, estimated at $4000-6000, sold at $21250
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
