With a few high priced passes and an overall Buy-In rate over 30%, Sotheby’s various owner Photographs sale never quite reached escape velocity. While there were a handful of positive surprises to bolster the numbers, the Total Sale Proceeds missed the low end of the pre sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 186 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $4207000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $6364000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 130 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 56 |
| Buy In % | 30.11% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $4032751 |
Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 75 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 56 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 19 |
| Low Buy In % | 25.33% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $603000 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $486251 |
| Mid Total Lots | 85 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 55 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 30 |
| Mid Buy In % | 35.29% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $2031000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $1471250 |
| Total High Lots | 26 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 19 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 7 |
| High Buy In % | 26.92% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $3730000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $2075250 |
The top lot by High estimate was tied between two lots: lot 57, Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O’Keeffe (By Car), 1933, and lot 106, Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O’Keeffe (Nude Study), 1918-1919 (image above, right, via Sotheby’s), both estimated at $300000-500000; the car portrait did not sell, while the nude was the top outcome of the sale at $365000.
86.15% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range, and there were 9 surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):
Lot 5, William Garnett, Appalachian Mountains, Pennsylvania, 1957/1963, estimated at $5000-7000, sold at $15000
Lot 56, Margaret Bourke-White, Selected images of the Chrysler Building Construction, 1929-1930, estimated at $30000-50000, sold at $112500 (image above, middle, via Sotheby’s)
Lot 94, Bill Brandt, Belgravia, London (Nude), 1951, estimated at $20000-30000, sold at $68750
Lot 105, Frantisek Drtikol, Nude, 1929, estimated at $30000-50000, sold at $100000 (image above, left, via Sotheby’s)
Lot 138, Francesca Woodman, Untitled (Providence, Rhode Island), 1975-1976, estimated at $12000-18000, sold at $43750
Lot 163, Irving Penn, Two Girls in Wartime Clothes (Dorian Leigh and Evelyn Tripp), 1950/1964, estimated at $15000-25000, sold at $50000
Lot 167, Irving Penn, Ballet Theatre Group, New York, 1947, estimated at $7000-10000, sold at $20000
Lot 168, Jerry Schatzberg, Bob Dylan Smoke, 1965/later, estimated at $5000-7000, sold at $28125
Lot 176, Lucas Samaras, Photo-transformation 11/29/73, 1973, estimated at $6000-9000, sold at $20000 (image above, right, via Sotheby;s)
Complete lot by lot results can be found here.
