Auction Results: Photographs, April 25, 2017 @Bonhams

The results from Bonhams’ Photographs sale earlier this week settled into an underwhelming zone. With the overall Buy-In rate coming in over 58%, and only 1 positive surprise to keep things lively, there wasn’t enough consistent buyer interest to create much momentum. As such, the Total Sale Proceeds shuffled along to just under $450K, well below the low end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate.

The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 111
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $676500
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $991500
Total Lots Sold 46
Total Lots Bought In 65
Buy In % 58.56%
Total Sale Proceeds $449625

Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 92
Total Low Lots Sold 36
Total Low Lots Bought In 56
Low Buy In % 60.87%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots $449500
Total Proceeds from Low Lots $155875
Mid Total Lots 16
Total Mid Lots Sold 7
Total Mid Lots Bought In 9
Mid Buy In % 56.25%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $367000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $153750
Total High Lots 3
Total High Lots Sold 3
Total High Lots Bought In 0
High Buy In % 0.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $175000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $140000

The top lot by High estimate was tied between two lots: lot 8, Eadweard Muybridge, Panorama of San Francisco from California St. Hill, 1877, and lot 108, Massimo Vitali, Tropea Shadow (#4874), Calabria, Italy, 2015, both estimated at $40000-60000 (images in preview post). The Muybridge sold for $50000 and the Vitali sold for $37500, but the top outcome of the sale was lot 29, Ansel Adams, The Grand Tetons and the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, 1942/1973-1977, estimated at $25000-35000, sold at $60000.

76.09% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there was only 1 positive surprise in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (image above via Bonhams):

Lot 64, W. Eugene Smith, Railroad Tracks, Pittsburgh, 1955-56/1970s, estimated at $3000-5000, sold at $10000

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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