Photography NFTs continued their cross-over into the traditional auction world at Christie’s online Photographs sale last week. A set of 12 NFTs from Quantum Art’s Season One took the top lot honors (at roughly $160K), with work by Kris Graves, Julie Blackmon, Mona Kuhn and others. The rest of the sale generally performed to expectations, with softness across the board showing up in an overall Buy-In rate over 30%. A number of positive surprises helped to balance the load, but when the dust settled, the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $1.3M) came in just below 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 | 87 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $1340000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $2026000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 58 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 29 |
| Buy In % | 33.33% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $1319346 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 37 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 25 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 12 |
| Low Buy In % | 32.43% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $246000 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $265356 |
| Mid Total Lots | 45 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 31 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 14 |
| Mid Buy In % | 31.11% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $1040000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $764190 |
| Total High Lots | 5 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 2 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 3 |
| High Buy In % | 60.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $740000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $289800 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 28, Richard Avedon, Dovima with Elephants, Evening Dress by Dior, Cirque d’Hiver, Paris, 1955/1979, estimated at $150000-250000; it sold at $126000. The top outcome of the sale was lot 87, Various Artists, Quantum Art: Season One, 2021-2022, estimated at $150000-200000, sold at $163800 (image above, via Christie’s.)
96.55% 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 Christie’s):
Lot 31, George Hoyningen-Huene, The Divers, 1930/later, estimated at $6000-8000, sold at $20160
Lot 34, Bert Stern, Marilyn in Black Dior Dress, 1962/later, estimated at $4000-6000, sold at $22680
Lot 36, Lillian Bassman, The V-Back Evenings, Suzy Parker, Dress by Trigère, New York, Harper’s Bazaar, 1955/later, estimated at $4000-6000, sold at $15120
Lot 37, Lillian Bassman, More Fashion Mileage Per Dress, Barbara Vaughn, Harper’s Bazaar, New York, 1956/later, estimated at $4000-6000, sold at $21420
Lot 41, Slim Aarons, Poolside Gossip, 1970/2005, estimated at $8000-10000, sold at $40320
Lot 43, Diane Arbus, A couple at a dance, N.Y.C., 1960/later, estimated at $6000-8000, sold at $20160
Lot 44, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Queen Charlotte’s Ball, London, England, 1959/later, estimated at $15000-20000, sold at $44100
Lot 55, Danny Lyon, Knoxville, 1967/2007, estimated at $3000-5000, sold at $12600
Lot 58, David Hockney, Self Portrait, Los Angeles, 1982, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $94500
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
