It was a generally flat outing at the Photographs sale at Bonhams in New York last week. The top lots (by Dora Maar and Nadar) failed to sell, the overall Buy-In rate creeped up near 45%, and there weren’t enough positive surprises to create a jolt of energy. The Total Sale Proceeds tallied up at just under $900K, well below the low end of the appregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 213 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $1269900 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $1866600 |
| Total Lots Sold | 118 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 95 |
| Buy In % | 44.60% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $886848 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 169 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 95 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 74 |
| Low Buy In % | 43.79% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $862600 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $425123 |
| Mid Total Lots | 41 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 22 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 19 |
| Mid Buy In % | 46.34% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $774000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $411650 |
| Total High Lots | 3 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 1 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 2 |
| High Buy In % | 66.67% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $230000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $50075 |
The top lot by High estimate was tied between two lots: lot 47, Attributed to Nadar, Charles Deburau, Mime, in Pierrot Costume, 1854-1855, and lot 55, Dora Maar, Villa à Vendre, 1936, both estimated at $60000-80000; neither work sold. The top outcome of the sale was lot 179, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Coke Plant Flemalle, Liege; Coke Plant, Emscher-Lippe, Dorsten, Ruhr; Coke Plant, Zeche Ewald Fortsetzung Recklinghausen, Ruhr, c1980, estimated at $18000-22000, sold at $50075 (image above, via Bonhams).
83.05% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 4 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Bonhams):
Lot 56, František Drtikol, Untitled (Composition), c1926, estimated at $5000-7000, sold at $15075
Lot 80, Cornell Capa, Bolshoi Ballet School, Moscow, 1958/later, estimated at $1200-1800, sold at $3825
Lot 117, William Christenberry, Hale County, Alabama, 19483/1995, estimated at $2000-3000, sold at $8825
Lot 179, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Coke Plant Flemalle, Liege; Coke Plant, Emscher-Lippe, Dorsten, Ruhr; Coke Plant, Zeche Ewald Fortsetzung Recklinghausen, Ruhr, c1980, estimated at $18000-22000, sold at $50075
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
