Auction Results: ONE: A Global Sale of the 20th Century and Post-War & Contemporary Art Day Sale, July 10, 2020 @Christie’s

Christie’s set an auction record for Richard Avedon at its relay-race, four city ONE: A Global Sale of the 20th Century auction last week. While there was only one photograph in the sale that jumped from Hong Kong, to Paris, to London, and eventually back to New York, the Avedon large scale print of Dovima with Elephants rose to the occasion, finding a buyer at a lofty $1.815M.

An additional Post-War & Contemporary Art Day Sale was bolted on afterward, and its photographic results were more uneven. Tallied together, the Avedon print pulled up the aggregate numbers – the Buy-In rate for photography was too high (over 45%) and there were no positive surprises, but the Total Sale Proceeds came in near the top end of the pre-sale estimate range.

The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 11
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $1807000
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $2753000
Total Lots Sold 6
Total Lots Bought In 5
Buy In % 45.45%
Total Sale Proceeds $2595000

Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High 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 4
Total Mid Lots Sold 1
Total Mid Lots Bought In 3
Mid Buy In % 75.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $133000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $32500
Total High Lots 7
Total High Lots Sold 5
Total High Lots Bought In 2
High Buy In % 28.57%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $2620000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $2562500

The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 81, Richard Avedon, Dovima with Elephants, Evening Dress by Dior, Cirque d’Hiver, Paris, 1955/1979, estimated at $800000-1200000. It was also the top photography outcome of the sales at $1815000 (image above, via Christie’s).

100.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were no positive surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate).

The complete lot by lot results can be found here (ONE) and here (Post-War & Contemporary Art Day).

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