The Fall auction season rolled to a start last week, with Phillips’ broad-based New Now contemporary art sale getting things going. Photographically, the action was relatively muted, with an overall Buy-In rate for photography coming in at 33%, few positive surprises, and Total Sale Proceeds that fell below the low end of the pre-sale range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 45 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $404000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $586000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 30 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 15 |
| Buy In % | 33.33% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $361625 |
Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 30 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 20 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 10 |
| Low Buy In % | 33.33% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $170000 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $114125 |
| Mid Total Lots | 14 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 9 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 5 |
| Mid Buy In % | 35.71% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $296000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $147500 |
| Total High Lots | 1 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 1 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 0 |
| High Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $120000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $100000 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 54, Thomas Demand, Heldenorgel, 2009, estimated at $80000-120000; it was also the top photography outcome of the sale at $100000 (image in the preview post).
93.33% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 2 positive surprise in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Phillips):
Lot 55, Tokihiro Sato, #149, 1992, estimated at $1000-2000, sold at $8125
Lot 58, Hitoshi Nomura, The Earth Rotation, November 19, 1979, 14:16-14:46, 1979, estimated at $3000-5000, sold at $15000
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
