Auction Results: Photo Opportunities, June 4, 2015 @Dreweatts & Bloomsbury

Dreweatts & Bloomsbury’s Photo Opportunities sale earlier this month in London scooped for the low end of the market and generally found uneven weakness. With a Buy-In rate near 40% and more than 36% of the lots that did sell doing so below the estimate range, it is no wonder that the Total Sale Proceeds failed to cover even the aggregate low estimate.

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

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 235
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate £242050
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate £349200
Total Lots Sold 148
Total Lots Bought In 87
Buy In % 37.02%
Total Sale Proceeds £176620

Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 227
Total Low Lots Sold 144
Total Low Lots Bought In 83
Low Buy In % 36.56%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots £271200
Total Proceeds from Low Lots £152020
Mid Total Lots 8
Total Mid Lots Sold 4
Total Mid Lots Bought In 4
Mid Buy In % 50.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots £78000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots £24600
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 lot by High estimate was tied between three lots: lot 146, Irving Penn, Woman in Balenciaga Coat (Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn), 1950/1960 (image above via Dreweatts & Bloomsbury), lot 165, Ormond Gigli, Girls in the Windows, New York City, 1960/2008, and lot 198, Marilyn Minter, Wet Kiss, 2014, all estimated at £10000-15000 or £13000-15000. The Gigli and Minter prints didn’t sell, and the Penn print was the top outcome of the sale at £10000.

Only 63.51% of the photo lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 12 surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 24, Brassai, Les Escaliers de Montmartre, 1936/later, estimated at £800-1200, sold at £3800 (image above, via Dreweatts & Bloomsbury)

Lot 27, Elliott Erwitt, Santa Monica, CA, 1955/later, estimated at £1000-2000, sold at £4000

Lot 77, William Gottlieb, Frank Sinatra, 1947/later, estimated at £200-300, sold at £650

Lot 83, Jeanloup Sieff, Ma Fille Sonia, Paris, 1985, estimated at £200-300, sold at £950

Lot 100, Patrick Litchfield, HM the Queen, 1972/2006, estimated at £400-600, sold at £1500

Lot 107, Angus McBean, Audrey Hepburn, 1951/later, estimated at £600-800, sold at £3000 (image above, via Dreweatts & Bloomsbury)

Lot 153, George Barris, Marilyn Monroe, 1962/1987, estimated at £700-900, sold at £3400

Lot 154, George Barris, Marilyn Monroe, 1962/1987, estimated at £700-900, sold at £5500 image above, via Dreweatts & Bloomsbury)

Lot 155, George Barris, Marilyn Monroe, 1962/1987, estimated at £700-900, sold at £3000

Lot 156, George Barris, Marilyn Monroe, 1962/1987, estimated at £700-900, sold at £4800

Lot 159, George Barris, Marilyn Monroe, 1962/1987, estimated at £700-900, sold at £3200

Lot 160, George Barris, Marilyn Monroe, 1962/1987, estimated at £700-900, sold at £4500

Complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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Read more about: Angus McBean, Brassaï (Gyula Halász), George Barris, Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions

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