Auction Results: Photographs, April 8, 2021 @Phillips

An unexpectedly large group of positive surprises drove up the results of the various owner Photographs sale at Phillips last week. Nineteen lots more than doubled their high estimates, and when paired with a top lot Robert Frank print selling for over $400K and a solid Buy-In rate (under 20%), the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $5.4M) came in near the top of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.

The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 256
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $3925100
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $5843700
Total Lots Sold 206
Total Lots Bought In 50
Buy In % 19.53%
Total Sale Proceeds $5410062

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

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 108
Total Low Lots Sold 82
Total Low Lots Bought In 26
Low Buy In % 24.07%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots $689700
Total Proceeds from Low Lots $663642
Mid Total Lots 129
Total Mid Lots Sold 109
Total Mid Lots Bought In 20
Mid Buy In % 15.50%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $2929000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $2802240
Total High Lots 19
Total High Lots Sold 15
Total High Lots Bought In 4
High Buy In % 21.05%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $2225000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $1944180

The top lot by High estimate was lot 67, William Eggleston, William Eggleston’s Graceland (11 prints), 1984, estimated at $180000-280000; it sold at $226800. The top outcome of the sale was lot 27, Robert Frank, Trolley – New Orleans, 1955/later, estimated at $150000-250000, sold at $403200 (image above via Phillips).

95.63% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 19 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Phillips):

Lot 40, Flip Schulke, Ali Underwater, 1961/later, estimated at $7000-9000, sold at $32760

Lot 52, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Fachwerkhäuser, Siegener Industriegebiet (Framework Houses, Industrial District of Siegen) 1959–1973, 1959-1973/1993, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $30240

Lot 63, Stephen Shore, Trail’s End Restaurant, Kanab, Utah, August 10, 1973, 1973, estimated at $5000-7000, sold at $20160

Lot 65, Stephen Shore, Room 125, Westbank Motel, Idaho Falls, Idaho, July 18, 1973, 1973, estimated at $5000-7000, sold at $20160

Lot 66, Stephen Shore, Room 509, Dnipro Hotel, Kiev, Ukraine, July 18, 2012, 2014, estimated at $7000-9000, sold at $22680

Lot 79, Sally Mann, Vinland, 1992, estimated at $8000-12000, sold at $25200

Lot 84, Jan Groover, Untitled, 2003, estimated at $2000-3000, sold at $8190

Lot 89, Vik Muniz, Three Flags, after Jasper Johns from Pictures of Magazines 2, 2014, estimated at $30000-50000, sold at $163800

Lot 97, Alec Soth, Charles, Vasa, Minnesota, 2002, estimated at $30000-50000, sold at $113400

Lot 99, Hank Willis Thomas, Your Skin has the Power to Protect You, 2008, estimated at $6000-8000, sold at $27720

Lot 101, Dinh Q. Lê, Untitled (helicopter, Apocalypse Now, prayers), 2000, estimated at $15000-25000, sold at $63000

Lot 109, Darren Almond, Fullmoon@Iguazu River, 2011, estimated at $5000-7000, sold at $18900

Lot 118, Wolfgang Tillmans, Lars in tube, 1993, estimated at $8000-12000, sold at $30240

Lot 141, Dinh Q. Lê, Altarpiece #3, 2001, estimated at $12000-18000, sold at $56700

Lot 181, John Dugdale, Farmhouse Inverted in Mark Isaacson’s Venini Vase, 1995, estimated at $1500-2500, sold at $5040

Lot 200, Arnold Newman, Igor Stravinsky, 1946/later, estimated at $3000-5000, sold at $16380

Lot 235, Lewis Hine, Her First Penny, Italian Child at Ellis Island, 1905/after 1917, estimated at $3000-5000, sold at $15120

Lot 246, Paul Strand, Ion Diaconu and Illie Costache, Sapinesti, Romania, 1960, estimated at $3000-5000, sold at $11970

Lot 249, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Hyères, France, 1932/later, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $32760

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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Read more about: Alec Soth, Arnold Newman, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Darren Almond, Dinh Q. Lê, Flip Schulke, Hank Willis Thomas, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Jan Groover, John Dugdale, Lewis Hine, Paul Strand, Robert Frank, Sally Mann, Stephen Shore, Vik Muniz, Wolfgang Tillmans, Phillips

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