When lists of powerhouse photography collectors have been made in the past decade or two, Martin Margulies would never fail to be amongst the top rung of the most active names. This sale brought together a portion of his holdings, sold to benefit his foundation, and the results generally met expectations. The top lot Cindy Sherman bus riders found a buyer and tied for the top lot honors with a Thomas Struth museum view, and a record price was set for a print by Alec Soth (at roughly $152K). More broadly, the overall Buy-In rate settled in under 25%, and even with just a few positive surprises, the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $2.2M) tallied up 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 | 158 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $1886500 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $2796500 |
| Total Lots Sold | 119 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 39 |
| Buy In % | 24.68% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $2229094 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 91 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 73 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 18 |
| Low Buy In % | 19.78% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $590500 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $513969 |
| Mid Total Lots | 57 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 38 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 19 |
| Mid Buy In % | 33.33% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $1116000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $743575 |
| Total High Lots | 10 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 8 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 2 |
| High Buy In % | 20.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $1090000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $971550 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 46, Cindy Sherman, Untitled (Bus Riders I), 1976/2000, estimated at $150000-250000; it was tied for the top outcome of the sale at $190500 with lot 49, Thomas Struth, Pergamon Museum 1, Berlin, 2001 (images above via Phillips).
89.92% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 3 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Phillips):
Lot 44, Francesca Woodman, From Space 2, Providence, Rhode Island, 1975-1978/1997, estimated at $7000-9000, sold at $63500
Lot 55, Alec Soth, Charles, Vasa, Minnesota, 2002, estimated at $50000-70000, sold at $152400
Lot 112, Marc Riboud, The Antique Dealer’s Shop Windows, Beijing, 1965/later, estimated at $3000-5000, sold at $10160
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
