Auction Results: Photographs, April 3, 2016 @Sotheby’s

The results from Sotheby’s recent various owner Photographs sale were generally solid, and right in line with its aggregate tally from last October. Led by a vintage dressed and naked Sie Kommen diptych by Helmut Newton (which jumped to more than double its high estimate), the sale performed consistently across all price tiers. While the overall Buy-In rate of just over 26% wasn’t hugely impressive, a number of positive surprises helped prop up the numbers.

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

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 152
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $2330500
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $3506500
Total Lots Sold 112
Total Lots Bought In 40
Buy In % 26.32%
Total Sale Proceeds $3323000

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

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 70
Total Low Lots Sold 52
Total Low Lots Bought In 18
Low Buy In % 25.71%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots $558500
Total Proceeds from Low Lots $434250
Mid Total Lots 70
Total Mid Lots Sold 51
Total Mid Lots Bought In 19
Mid Buy In % 27.14%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $1678000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $1503750
Total High Lots 12
Total High Lots Sold 8
Total High Lots Bought In 4
High Buy In % 33.33%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $1270000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $1385000

The top lot by High estimate was lot 42, Man Ray, Rayograph, 1924, estimated at $250000-350000; it sold for $250000 (image in preview post). The top outcome of the sale was lot 110, Helmut Newton, Sie Kommen (Dressed) and Sie Kommen (Naked), 1981, estimated at $150000-250000; it sold for $670000 (image above, via Sotheby’s).

79.46% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 9 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Sotheby’s):

Lot 22, Désiré Charnay, Selected Images, 1860-1862, estimated at $5000-7000, sold at $27500

Lot 54, Robert Frank, Caerau, Wales, 1951/later, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $87500

Lot 70, Angus McBean, Audrey Hepburn, 1950/1951, estimated at $1500-2500, sold at $8750

Lot 83, Garry Winogrand, World’s Fair N.Y.C., 1964, estimated at $20000-30000, sold at $81250 (image in preview post)

Lot 90, Michael Dweck, Mermaid, 2005, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $30000

Lot 110, Helmut Newton, Sie Kommen (Dressed) and Sie Kommen (Naked), 1981, estimated at $150000-250000, sold at $670000

Lot 142, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, W, March 2000, #12 (from Cuba Libre), 2000, estimated at $20000-30000, sold at $106250

Lot 143, Cindy Sherman, Untitled (Doctor and Nurse Diptych), 1979/before 1995, estimated at $5000-7000, sold at $16250

Lot 148, Guido Argentini, Vacancy, 2007/2015, estimated at $6000-8000, sold at $22500

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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Read more about: Angus McBean, Cindy Sherman, Claude-Joseph Désiré Charnay, Garry Winogrand, Guido Argentini, Helmut Newton, Michael Dweck, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Robert Frank, Sotheby's

One comment

  1. Pete /

    $670,000 paid for the Helmut Newton? Wow, that’s a pretty affluent fifteen year old male with money to burn.

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