Weakness in the top price tier is what torpedoed Christie’s single owner Claude Berri collection sale in Paris last week. With only 3 out of the top 11 lots finding buyers (a whopping 72% buy-in rate for those lots), there was no way the rest of the sale could plausibly recover. In the end, the overall Buy-In rate for the entire sale settled at 33% and there were a handful of positive surprises, but the Total Sale Proceeds missed the low end of the pre-sale range by more than 400K.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 69 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | €1225500 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | €1845500 |
| Total Lots Sold | 46 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 23 |
| Buy In % | 33.33% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | €820750 |
Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 32 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 25 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 7 |
| Low Buy In % | 21.88% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | €154500 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | €138875 |
| Mid Total Lots | 26 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 18 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 8 |
| Mid Buy In % | 30.77% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | €481000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | €305125 |
| Total High Lots | 11 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 3 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 8 |
| High Buy In % | 72.73% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | €1210000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | €376750 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 43, Jeff Wall, Rear view, open air theatre, Vancouver, 2005, estimated at €300000-500000 (image in preview post). It was also the top outcome of the sale at €290500.
71.74% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 7 surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Christie’s):
Lot 7, Brassaï, Femme-Amande, 1930-1940, estimated at €4000-6000, sold at €17500
Lot 19, Jean Painlevé, Pince de Galathée, 1928, estimated at €3000-5000, sold at €12500
Lot 51, Nan Goldin, Self-portrait in blue bathroom, London, 1980, estimated at €5000-7000, sold at €17500
Lot 55, Louise Lawler, War is terror, 2001-2003, estimated at €20000-30000, sold at €74500
Lot 62, Yto Barrada, Dos à la ville # 2, série ‘Le Belvédère – Mirador de la Kasbah’, 2002, estimated at €2000-3000, sold at €6875
Lot 64, Patrick Faigenbaum, Famille Ricci, Rome, 1987/1989, estimated at €1500-2500, sold at €6875
Lot 65, Patrick Faigenbaum, Famille Caracciolo di Melissano, Naples, 1991, estimated at €1500-2500, sold at €11875
Complete lot by lot results can be found here.
