Auction Results: Photographs, April 6, 2021 @Christie’s

The results from the recent Photographs sale at Christie’s generally met expectations. The top lot Man Ray print sold (at $475K) above its high estimate, and a Lewis Hine print followed that up (at $275K) with another solid sale. Overall, the Buy-In rate came in near 37%, and with just one positive surprise, those data points might have predicted less robust results. But the broad strength in the top price tier carried the day, bringing the Total Sale Proceeds in at just under $2.2M, above 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 139
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $1967500
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $2909500
Total Lots Sold 88
Total Lots Bought In 51
Buy In % 36.69%
Total Sale Proceeds $2193625

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

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 64
Total Low Lots Sold 41
Total Low Lots Bought In 23
Low Buy In % 35.94%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots $404500
Total Proceeds from Low Lots $242375
Mid Total Lots 64
Total Mid Lots Sold 39
Total Mid Lots Bought In 25
Mid Buy In % 39.06%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $1425000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $807500
Total High Lots 11
Total High Lots Sold 8
Total High Lots Bought In 3
High Buy In % 27.27%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $1080000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $1143750

The top lot by High estimate was lot 7, Man Ray, Le Violon d’Ingres, 1924/1950s, estimated at $200000-300000; it was also the top outcome of the sale at $475000 (image above, via Christie’s.)

81.82% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there was just 1 positive surprise in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (image above, via Christie’s):

Lot 48, Danny Lyon, Ben Alton, Housewrecker, 1967, estimated at $2000-3000, sold at $9375

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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