The results for the photography included in the contemporary sales at Sotheby’s in New York last week were generally solid. The top lot Richard Prince cowboy print found a buyer about its estimate range (at nearly $1.4M), and a Louise Lawler image of the installation of Edgar Degas’ dancer sculpture soared to more than 4X its high estimate. When the tally was done, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography (of roughly $3.1M) came in near the top 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 | $2262000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $3298000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 9 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 4 |
| Buy In % | 30.77% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $3102055 |
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 | 3 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 3 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Mid Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $78000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $103505 |
| Total High Lots | 10 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 6 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 4 |
| High Buy In % | 40.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $3220000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $2998550 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 140, Richard Prince, Untitled (Cowboy), 2000, estimated at $800000-1200000; it was also the top photography outcome of the sales at $1392000 (image above, via Sotheby’s).
90.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there was 1 positive surprise in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (image above, via Sotheby’s):
Lot 590, Louise Lawler, Marie, 2010/2011, estimated at $40000-60000, sold at $279400
The complete lot by lot results can be found here (Now and Contemporary Evening) and here (Contemporary Art Day).
