Auction Results: Photographs, April 5, 2019 @Sotheby’s

The results of the various owner Photographs sale at Sotheby’s last week were relatively uneventful. The top lot El Lissitzky print sold within its estimate, and the overall Buy-In rate came in at roughly 30%. With a handful of positive surprises, the Total Sale Proceeds were just over $4M, a shade higher than 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 189
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $3994000
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $6136000
Total Lots Sold 131
Total Lots Bought In 58
Buy In % 30.69%
Total Sale Proceeds $4036875

Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions):

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 64
Total Low Lots Sold 49
Total Low Lots Bought In 15
Low Buy In % 23.44%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots $500000
Total Proceeds from Low Lots $408125
Mid Total Lots 104
Total Mid Lots Sold 67
Total Mid Lots Bought In 37
Mid Buy In % 35.58%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $2796000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $1772500
Total High Lots 21
Total High Lots Sold 15
Total High Lots Bought In 6
High Buy In % 28.57%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $2840000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $1856250

The top lot by High estimate was lot 13, El Lissitzky, Pelikan Tinte, 1924, estimated at $300000-500000; it was also the top outcome of the sale at $462500 (image above via Sotheby’s).

86.26% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 6 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Sotheby’s):

Lot 35, Annie Leibovitz, Demi Moore, Culver City, California, 1991/2010, estimated at $5000-7000, sold at $20000

Lot 70, Roy DeCarava, Coltrane + Elvin, 1960/later, estimated at $8000-12000, sold at $32500

Lot 97, Ansel Adams, Picket Fence, 1936, estimated at $15000-25000, sold at $62500

Lot 113, Hiro, Apollo 11, 9:32AM, 7-16-69 Maiden Voyage to the Moon, 1969, estimated at $15000-25000, sold at $60000

Lot 186, David Yarrow, Amboseli Kenya, 2018, estimated at $25000-35000, sold at $106250

Lot 189, Sebastião Salgado, Gold Mine, Serra Pelada, Brazil, 1986/later, estimated at $6000-9000, sold at $18750

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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Read more about: Annie Leibovitz, Ansel Adams, David Yarrow, El Lissitzky, Hiro (Yasuhiro Wakabayashi), Roy DeCarava, Sebastião Salgado, Sotheby's

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