Simply put, the results of Sotheby’s various owner photography sale in Paris were saved by Eugene Atget and a bare bottom. The rare (and lovely) Atget female nude soared to over 10X its high estimate, propping up the total proceeds of an otherwise disappointing outing marred a buy-in rate over 50%. This auction is a perfect example of how one trophy lot (whether recognized beforehand or not) can make or break a sale.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
Total Lots: 207
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: 1924700€
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: 2615100€
Total Lots Sold: 92
Total Lots Bought In: 115
Buy In %: 55.56%
Total Sale Proceeds: 1997863€
Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post, here):
Low Total Lots: 118
Low Sold: 49
Low Bought In: 69
Buy In %: 58.47%
Total Low Estimate: 473100€
Total Low Sold: 234938€
Mid Total Lots: 78
Mid Sold: 37
Mid Bought In: 41
Buy In %: 52.56%
Total Mid Estimate: 1427000€
Total Mid Sold: 790025€
High Total Lots: 11
High Sold: 6
High Bought In: 5
Buy In %: 45.45%
Total High Estimate: 715000€
Total High Sold: 972900€
The top lot by High estimate was lot 84, Irving Penn, Mouth, New York, 1986, at 80000-100000€; it sold for 138750€. The top outcome of the sale was lot 15, Eugene Atget, Femme, 1925, at 444750€.
92.39% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range. There were a total of 13 surprises in this sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):
Lot 5, Attribue a Auguste Belloc, Nu au Livre, 1850, at 12500€
Lot 6, Anonyme, Scene Pornographique, 1850, at 16250€
Lot 15, Eugene Atget, Femme, 1925, at 444750€
Lot 80, Richard Avedon, Audrey Hepburn, New York, December 18, 1953/Later, at 51150€
Lot 87, Robert Mapplethorpe, Lisa Lyon, 1982, at 40350€
Lot 90, Robert Mapplethorpe, Clifton, 1981, at 33150€
Lot 12, Anonyme, Marrel Freres – Plaques Essayees a Genes Le 1er Juillet, 1863, at 18125€
Lot 93, Helmut Newton, Nadja Sitting on Silver Radiator, Hotel Balmoral, Monte Carlo, 1994, at 23550€
Lot 96, Peter Lindbergh, The Wild Ones, 1991, at 34350€
Lot 126, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Chateaux d’eau, 1974, at 53550€
Lot 137, Auguste Belloc, Nu au Voille, 1854-1856, at 11250€
Lot 155, Monsieur X, Nus et Polissonneries, 1930, at 9375€
Lot 156, Monsieur X, Nus et Polissonneries, 1930, at 8125€
Complete lot by lot results can be found here.
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