With no reserves to slow down the selling process, it’s not entirely surprising that the photographs on offer from the Polaroid Collection last week at Rago all found buyers, even the Bill Owens SX-70 print at a humble $64. And while more than 32% of the lots that sold did so below their estimate ranges, there were enough positive surprises (in works by Dawound Bey, Barbara Kasten, Lyle Ashton Harris, Sarah Moon, and others) to prop the numbers up. When the dust settled, the Total Sale Proceeds (of just over $580K) came in above the high end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 128 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $377200 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $536600 |
| Total Lots Sold | 128 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $584443 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High price range definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 120 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 120 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Low Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $275600 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $284977 |
| Mid Total Lots | 6 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 6 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Mid Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $101000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $74676 |
| Total High Lots | 2 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 2 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 0 |
| High Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $160000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $224790 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 131, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, De Las Dos Aguas (Of the Two Waters), 2007, estimated at $70000-90000; it found a buyer at $107950, but it was not the top outcome of the sale. That honor went to lot 138, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Abridor de Caminos (The One Who Opens the Path), 1997, estimated at $50000-70000, sold at $116840, a record for the artist (image above, via Rago).
Just 67.97% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 16 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate)(images above via Rago):
Lot 101, Dawoud Bey, Untitled (triptych), 1992, estimated at $1500-2500, sold at $16510
Lot 108, Sarah Moon, Stockings, 1997, estimated at $2500-3500, sold at $9525
Lot 115, Barbara Kasten, Construct LB 1, 1982, estimated at $1500-2000, sold at $4445
Lot 126, Sarah Moon, Central Park, 1994, estimated at $1200-1800, sold at $8890
Lot 127, Patrick Nagatani and Andrée Tracey, Red Piece, 1983, estimated at $500-700, sold at $1716
Lot 128, Dawoud Bey, Two boys on Carrollsburg Place, 1989/1990, estimated at $1200-1800, sold at $5715
Lot 130, Dawoud Bey, Untitled, 1993, estimated at $800-1200, sold at $5334
Lot 145, Robert Cumming, Easy Analogy, 1979, estimated at $2000-3000, sold at $9525
Lot 174, Lyle Ashton Harris, Mother + Son, 1993, estimated at $800-1200, sold at $2413
Lot 187, Philippe Halsman, Georgia O’Keeffe, 1967, estimated at $800-1200, sold at $3302
Lot 191, Charles Eames, Untitled (two works), n.d., estimated at $800-1200, sold at $2794
Lot 195, Sheila Metzner, Mouille Prototype (from the One of a Kind series), 1986, estimated at $2000-2500, sold at $5080
Lot 197, Barbara Kasten, Construct NYC 8, 1983, estimated at $1500-2000, sold at $4826
Lot 198, Lyle Ashton Harris, Mother, Thomas + Lyle, 1993, estimated at $800-1200, sold at $2540
Lot 212, Jerry Uelsmann, Untitled, 1985, estimated at $800-1200, sold at $2413
Lot 214, Jerry Uelsmann, Untitled, 1984, estimated at $800-1200, sold at $2413
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
