While the top lot Helmut Newton print did find a buyer within its estimate range at the Photographies sale at Christie’s in Paris last week, a too high Buy-In rate (of more than 45%) dampened the overall outcome. Only two positive surprises jumped out of the general flow of buying and selling, leading to Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly €1.3M) that just missed the bottom end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 122 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | €1418800 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | €2122900 |
| Total Lots Sold | 67 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 55 |
| Buy In % | 45.53% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | €1318968 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions). Given recent currency fluctuations, we have once again re-adapted our local currency thresholds to match roughly $10000 and $50000 break points between categories.
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 80 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 43 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 37 |
| Low Buy In % | 46.25% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | €439900 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | €234108 |
| Mid Total Lots | 32 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 18 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 14 |
| Mid Buy In % | 43.75% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | €653000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | €418320 |
| 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 | €1030000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | €666540 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 118, Helmut Newton, “Eiffel Tower”, Paris, 1974, estimated at €300000-500000; it was also the top outcome of the sale at €378000 (image above, via Christie’s).
92.54% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 2 surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Christie’s):
Lot 131, Jack Pierson, Self Portrait #4, 2003, estimated at €5000-7000, sold at €15120
Lot 163, Sylvie Fleury, Cool Girl, Diosa de la Moda, Vogue Espagne, 2012, estimated at €1500-2000, sold at €4410
Complete lot by lot results can be found here.
