Auction Results: Photographs, May 16, 2019 @Phillips London

The various owner Photographs auction at Phillips in London last week generally hit its marks. The top three lots all found buyers, there were more than a handful of positive surprises, and the overall Buy-In rate came in under 24%, so many of the key metrics were in solid territory. As a result, the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly £1.8M) settled into 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 162
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate £1569500
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate £2313500
Total Lots Sold 124
Total Lots Bought In 38
Buy In % 23.46%
Total Sale Proceeds £1849188

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

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 40
Total Low Lots Sold 32
Total Low Lots Bought In 8
Low Buy In % 20.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots £163500
Total Proceeds from Low Lots £122438
Mid Total Lots 99
Total Mid Lots Sold 74
Total Mid Lots Bought In 25
Mid Buy In % 25.25%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots £1175000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots £995500
Total High Lots 23
Total High Lots Sold 18
Total High Lots Bought In 5
High Buy In % 21.74%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots £975000
Total Proceeds from High Lots £731250

The top lot by High estimate was tied between three lots: lot 21, Thomas Ruff, 16h 28m/-60 degrees, 1992, lot 40, Man Ray, La Priere, 1930/1971, and lot 41, Helena Almeida, Seduzir (Seduce), 2002, each estimated at £50000-70000. The Man Ray print was the top outcome of the sale at £100000 (image above, via Phillips), while the Ruff print sold at £56250 and the Almeida print sold at £47500.

93.55% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 8 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Phillips):

Lot 23, David LaChapelle, Rape of Africa, 2008, estimated at £8000-12000, sold at £27500

Lot 24, David LaChapelle, Pieta with Courtney Love, 2006, estimated at £10000-15000, sold at £40000

Lot 57, Hiroki Inoue, Fox Chase: Wherever You Go, I Will Follow!, 2016, estimated at £5000-7000, sold at £27500

Lot 92, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Self-Portrait with Paige Powell, c1982-1984, estimated at £8000-12000, sold at £30000

Lot 104, Helmut Newton, SUMO, 1999, estimated at £2000-3000, sold at £6875

Lot 132, Peter Beard, Maureen and a late-night feeder, 2:00am, Hog Ranch, 1987/later, estimated at £6000-8000, sold at £17500

Lot 140, Don McCullin, Shell-shocked US Marine, the Battle of Hue, 1968/later, estimated at £7000-9000, sold at £25000

Lot 145, Bill Brandt, Francis Bacon Walking on Primrose Hill, 1963/1979-1980, estimated at £3000-5000, sold at £12500

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

Send this article to a friend

Read more about: Bill Brandt, David LaChapelle, Don McCullin, Helmut Newton, Hiroki Inoue, Man Ray, Peter Beard, Phillips

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.

Recent Articles

Auction Results: Post-War to Present, March 13, 2024 @Christie’s

Auction Results: Post-War to Present, March 13, 2024 @Christie’s

The results for the photography included in the recent Post-War to Present sale at Christie’s in New York were largely uneventful. The top lots (from Richard Prince, Cindy Sherman, and ... Read on.

Sign up for our weekly email newsletter