The results from the Photographs sale at Christie’s last week were largely routine. The top lot honors went to an Irving Penn ginkgo leaves print and there were a decent number of positive surprises, but a little softness could be seen in an overall Buy-In rate near 25% and more than 30% of the lots that did sell finding buyers below their estimate ranges. When the timers had all expired, the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $4.56M) tallied up to a respectable number, but just under the low end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 301 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $4743000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $6937000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 226 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 75 |
| Buy In % | 24.92% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $4558538 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 123 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 104 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 19 |
| Low Buy In % | 15.45% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $818000 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $696468 |
| Mid Total Lots | 150 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 103 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 47 |
| Mid Buy In % | 31.33% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $3164000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $2067560 |
| Total High Lots | 28 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 19 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 9 |
| High Buy In % | 32.14% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $2955000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $1794510 |
The top lot by High estimate was tied between two lots, each estimated at $250000-350000: lot 16, Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O’Keeffe—Torso, 1918, and lot 93, Irving Penn, Ginkgo Leaves, New York, 1990; the Stieglitz print did not sell, while the Penn print sold at $355600 and was the top outcome of the sale (image above, via Christie’s.)
69.91% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 16 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Christie’s):
Lot 31, Sonya Noskowiak, White Radish, 1933, estimated at $8000-10000, sold at $33020
Lot 34, Ansel Adams, Resplendent Mountain, Mount Robson Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada, 1928/c1932-1936, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $30480
Lot 40, Walker Evans, Church, Georgia, 1936, estimated at $5000-7000, sold at $19050
Lot 60, Carl Strüwe, Schuppen auf einem Schmetterlingsflügel, 1928/1950s, estimated at $2000-3000, sold at $7620
Lot 66, Werner David Feist, Kurt Stolp with Pipe, 1929, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $53340
Lot 74, Consuelo Kanaga, Profile of a Young Girl, from the Tennessee Series, 1948, estimated at $15000-20000, sold at $57150
Lot 75, W. Eugene Smith, The Walk to Paradise Garden, 1946, estimated at $12000-18000, sold at $40640
Lot 127, Irving Penn, Alberto Giacometti, Paris, 1950/1983, estimated at $6000-8000, sold at $19050
Lot 130, Irving Penn, Isamu Noguchi, New York, 1947, estimated at $8000-12000, sold at $30480
Lot 133, Irving Penn, Barnett Newman, New York, 1966/1983, estimated at $6000-8000, sold at $17780
Lot 151, Diane Arbus, Winston Churchill look-alike, London, England, 1969, estimated at $8000-12000, sold at $27940
Lot 171, Francesca Woodman, Untitled (Daniel Wolf in Sheep Mask), 1979, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $53340
Lot 182, Andy Warhol, Self-Portrait in Fright Wig, 1986, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $33020
Lot 189, Flip Schulke, Ali Underwater, 1961, estimated at $4000-6000, sold at $35560
Lot 239, David Armstrong, Nan in Stuyvesant Park, NYC, 1991, estimated at $2000-3000, sold at $19050
Lot 283, Larry Sultan, Haskell Avenue, from ‘The Valley’, 1998, estimated at $3000-5000, sold at $10160
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
