Auction Results: Photographs Evening and Day Sales, October 5 and 6, 2016 @Phillips

Of the three houses this season, Phillips came the closest to meeting the pre-sale expectations in its recent Photographs sale. Like the others, it too was hit by the softening combination of a slightly too high Buy-In rate (nearly 32% in this case) and too few positive surprises, leading to Total Sale Proceeds that fell below the range. As consolation for Phillips, the numbers weren’t too far off in the end (led by the top lot Gilbert & George piece which did sell), and it once again bested the other two houses in the ultimate measure of aggregate sales.

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

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 257
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $5161000
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $7333500
Total Lots Sold 175
Total Lots Bought In 82
Buy In % 31.91%
Total Sale Proceeds $4922875

Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 81
Total Low Lots Sold 62
Total Low Lots Bought In 19
Low Buy In % 23.46%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots $531500
Total Proceeds from Low Lots $427250
Mid Total Lots 144
Total Mid Lots Sold 90
Total Mid Lots Bought In 54
Mid Buy In % 37.50%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $3117000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $1794375
Total High Lots 32
Total High Lots Sold 23
Total High Lots Bought In 9
High Buy In % 28.13%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $3685000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $2701250

The top lot by High estimate was lot 16, Gilbert & George, Day, 1978, estimated at $600000-800000 (image in preview post). It was also the top outcome of the sale at $670000.

91.43% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 5 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Phillips):

Lot 112, Diane Arbus, Promotion Flyer for ‘A Box of Ten Photographs’, 1970-1971, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $35000

Lot 217, Nick Brandt, Giraffe Fan, Aberdares, 2000, estimated at $4000-6000, sold at $13125

Lot 218, Nick Brandt, Two Rhinos, Lewa, 2003, estimated at $1500-2000, sold at $11250

Lot 219, Nick Brandt, Zebra in Doorway with Loom, Lewa Downs, 2002, estimated at $1500-2000, sold at $13750

Lot 234, Edward Burtynsky, AMARC #5, Davis-Monthan AFB, Tuscon Arizona, 2006, estimated at $15000-20000, sold at $40000

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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Read more about: Diane Arbus, Edward Burtynsky, Nick Brandt, Phillips

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