The results from Sotheby’s recent various owner Photographies sale in Paris were largely underwhelming. While a 19th century portrait of Baudelaire by Étienne Carjat soared to more than 7X its high estimate, the rest of the sale stumbled along. With an overall Buy-In rate above 50%, the Total Sale Proceeds fell well below the pre-sale aggregate low estimate.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 106 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | €1721500 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | €2546000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 52 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 54 |
| Buy In % | 50.94% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | €1376750 |
Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 31 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 18 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 13 |
| Low Buy In % | 41.94% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | €154000 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | €95500 |
| Mid Total Lots | 55 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 25 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 30 |
| Mid Buy In % | 54.55% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | €902000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | €615000 |
| Total High Lots | 20 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 9 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 11 |
| High Buy In % | 55.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | €1490000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | €666250 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 107, Vincent Chevalier, Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris, c1840, estimated at €100000-150000 (image in preview post); it did not sell. The top outcome of the sale was lot 185, Robert Mapplethorpe, Calla Lilly, 1986, estimated at €70000-100000, sold at €137500.
100.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 6 surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):
Lot 114, Étienne Carjat, Charles Baudelaire, Le Dernier Portrait, Paris, 1865, estimated at €10000-15000, sold at €112500 (image above via Sotheby’s)
Lot 117, Jean Painlevé, Two male seahorses, 1931, estimated at €2000-3000, sold at €6875
Lot 119, François Tuefferd, bottes sur un marche, Debreczin, Hongrie, 1936, estimated at €1000-1500, sold at €3500
Lot 160, Yoshiyuki Iwase, Modernist Nude, 1960, estimated at €1500-2000, sold at €4375
Lot 167, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Gasbehalter, 1965-1976, estimated at €15000-20000, sold at €50000 (image above via Sotheby’s)
Lot 205, Shirin Neshat, Rapture (Women), 1999, estimated at €12000-18000, sold at €42500
Complete lot by lot results can be found here.
