It was a solid workmanlike outing at the the online sale of Photographs at Bonhams last week. The top lot Irving Penn print found a buyer within its estimate range, the overall Buy-In rate came in near 25%, and a number of positive surprises helped the numbers, the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $914K) falling squarely in the middle of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 125 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $753500 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $1103000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 93 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 32 |
| Buy In % | 25.60% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $914102 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 95 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 67 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 28 |
| Low Buy In % | 29.47% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $497000 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $368040 |
| Mid Total Lots | 29 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 25 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 4 |
| Mid Buy In % | 13.79% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $526000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $469362 |
| Total High Lots | 1 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 1 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 0 |
| High Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $80000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $76700 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 51, Irving Penn, Cuzco Children, 1973, estimated at $60000-80000; it was also the top outcome of the sale at $76700 (image above, via Bonhams.)
84.95% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were 8 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Bonhams):
Lot 3, Youssef Nabil, You Never Left #XII, 2010, estimated at $7000-10000, sold at $20480
Lot 7, Sally Mann, Sunday Funnies, 1991, estimated at $12000-18000, sold at $38400
Lot 9, Robert Mapplethorpe, Irises, 1986, estimated at $15000-25000, sold at $51200
Lot 43, Herb Ritts, Fred with Tires, 1984, estimated at $4000-6000, sold at $20480
Lot 56, Ruth Orkin, American Girl in Italy, 1951/c1980, estimated at $5000-7000, sold at $14080
Lot 74, Peter Beard, Giraffes in mirage on the Taru desert, Kenya, June 1960, 1960/later, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $30720
Lot 86, Doug and Mike Starn, Structure of Thought 30, 2013-21, estimated at $7000-10000, sold at $20480
Lot 125, André Kertész, Hazy Day (‘Mikszáth Kálmán tér, Budapest’), 1920/later, estimated at $1000-1500, sold at $4096
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
