Two Peter Beard prints led the way at the various owner Photographs auction at Phillips in London last week. In general, the results fell in line with expectations, and with a low overall Buy-In rate (under 17%) and a number of positive surprises, the Total Sale Proceeds (of just over £1.5M) came in squarely 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 | 119 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | £1178100 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | £1754900 |
| Total Lots Sold | 99 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 20 |
| Buy In % | 16.81% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | £1508787 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 20 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 17 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 3 |
| Low Buy In % | 15.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | £71900 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | £71127 |
| Mid Total Lots | 86 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 69 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 17 |
| Mid Buy In % | 19.77% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | £1023000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | £836640 |
| Total High Lots | 13 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 13 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 0 |
| High Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | £660000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | £601020 |
The top lot by High estimate was tied between two lots: lot 11, Peter Beard,
Francis Bacon on his roof at 80 Narrow Street, London (soon to be lost gambling), during the dead elephant interviews, March, 1972/later, and lot 24, Peter Beard, Lion Pride near Ndutu, Southern Serengeti – with Richard Bell, 1976/later, both estimated at £80000-120000. Coincidentally, the two lots were also tied for the top outcome of the sale at £100800 (images above, via Phillips).
87.88% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 6 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Phillips):
Lot 51, William Klein, Gun 1, New York, 1955/2000, estimated at £7000-9000, sold at £20160
Lot 75, Anton Corbijn, Kate, 1996, estimated at £4000-6000, sold at £15120
Lot 78, Herb Ritts, Nicole Kidman, Culver City, 1999, estimated at £2000-3000, sold at £6300
Lot 85, Malick Sidibé, Nuit de Nöel (Happy-Club), 1963/2001, estimated at £7000-9000, sold at £27720
Lot 103, Nick Brandt, Zebra on Lake, Ngorongoro Crater, 2005, estimated at £6000-8000, sold at £20160
Lot 119, Slim Aarons, The Marlboroughs, 1957/later, estimated at £800-1200, sold at £10584
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
