Auction Results: Photographs, April 6, 2022 @Phillips

Weakness at the highest price points manifested itself in two ways at the various owner Photographs sale at Phillips last week. The Buy-In rate for lots with high estimates above $50000 came in at a whopping 55%, and an additional 7 lots were withdrawn pre-sale, from the likes of Mapplethorpe, Sugimoto, and Ruff. With those withdrawls pulled out of the tally, even with a decent number of positive surprises, the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $3.9M) came in 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 288
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $4070800
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $6022200
Total Lots Sold 220
Total Lots Bought In 68
Buy In % 23.61%
Total Sale Proceeds $3933365

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

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 148
Total Low Lots Sold 115
Total Low Lots Bought In 33
Low Buy In % 22.30%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots $957200
Total Proceeds from Low Lots $889245
Mid Total Lots 120
Total Mid Lots Sold 96
Total Mid Lots Bought In 24
Mid Buy In % 20.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $2885000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $2416640
Total High Lots 20
Total High Lots Sold 9
Total High Lots Bought In 11
High Buy In % 55.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $2180000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $627480

The top lot by High estimate was lot 92, Cindy Sherman, Untitled #580, 2016, estimated at $250000-350000; it did not sell. The top outcome of the sale was lot 203, Vik Muniz, Marilyn Monroe, actress, NY City, May 6, 1957, after Avedon from Gordian Puzzles, 2007, estimated at $60000-80000, sold at $119700 (image above via Phillips).

97.27% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 18 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Phillips):

Lot 21, Peter Hujar, Great Dane (Sphinx), 1981, estimated at $12000-18000, sold at $69300

Lot 44, Marcia Resnick, Landscape/Loftscape #14 (self-portrait), 1976, estimated at $2000-3000, sold at $11970

Lot 50, Francesca Woodman, Untitled, from Eel Series, 1977-1978/later, estimated at $5000-7000, sold at $21420

Lot 71, Lucien Clergue, Zebra Nude, New York, 1997/2010, estimated at $3000-5000, sold at $11340

Lot 77, Robert Mapplethorpe, Ken Moody, 1983, estimated at $6000-8000, sold at $18900

Lot 79, Annie Leibovitz, Julie Worden, Dancer, Mark Morris Dance Group, Clifton Point, Rhinebeck New York, 1999, estimated at $3000-5000, sold at $13860

Lot 90, Robert Longo, Untitled Pl. 13 from Men in the Cities, 2005, estimated at $8000-12000, sold at $32760

Lot 96, Shirin Neshat, Untitled from Soliloquy, 1999, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $32760

Lot 106, Gillian Wearing, People, 2011, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $32760

Lot 127, Gregory Crewdson, Untitled, 2001, estimated at $25000-35000, sold at $81900

Lot 166, Helen Levitt, New York City (phone booth), 1988/1993, estimated at $5000-7000, sold at $20160

Lot 209, Melvin Sokolsky, Sidekick, Paris, 1965/1998, estimated at $4000-6000, sold at $13860

Lot 219, William Klein, Club Allegro Fortissimo, Paris, 1990, estimated at $5000-7000, sold at $18900

Lot 260, Sebastião Salgado, Serra Pelada, Gold Mine, Brazil (Cast of Thousands), 1986/later, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $30240

Lot 265, Jerry Uelsmann, Untitled (floating trees), 1969, estimated at $2000-3000, sold at $17640

Lot 277, Nan Goldin, The Hug, 1980, estimated at $5000-7000, sold at $18900

Lot 289, Joe Shere, Jayne Mansfield and Sophia Loren at Romanoff’s in Beverly Hills, c1958/later, estimated at $3000-5000, sold at $10080

Lot 291, Ellen von Unwerth, Original Sin, New Orleans, 1998/2010, estimated at $2500-3500, sold at $8190

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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Read more about: Annie Leibovitz, Ellen von Unwerth, Francesca Woodman, Gillian Wearing, Gregory Crewdson, Helen Levitt, Jerry Uelsmann, Joe Shere, Lucien Clergue, Marcia Resnick, Melvin Sokolsky, Nan Goldin, Peter Hujar, Robert Longo, Robert Mapplethorpe, Sebastião Salgado, Shirin Neshat, Vik Muniz, William Klein, Phillips

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