Auction Results: Photographs, May 16, 2019 @Sotheby’s London

The results from Sotheby’s various owner Photographs sale in London last week were the definition of uneventful. The sale tallied up an overall Buy-In rate near 40%, a top lot that failed to sell, and no positive surprises, so it isn’t entirely surprising that the Total Sale Proceeds (just under £1M) fell well below the low end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.

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

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 119
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate £1342400
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate £1958600
Total Lots Sold 72
Total Lots Bought In 47
Buy In % 39.50%
Total Sale Proceeds £966875

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

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 31
Total Low Lots Sold 21
Total Low Lots Bought In 10
Low Buy In % 32.26%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots £127600
Total Proceeds from Low Lots £78750
Mid Total Lots 70
Total Mid Lots Sold 42
Total Mid Lots Bought In 28
Mid Buy In % 40.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots £816000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots £463125
Total High Lots 18
Total High Lots Sold 9
Total High Lots Bought In 9
High Buy In % 50.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots £1015000
Total Proceeds from High Lots £425000

The top lot by High estimate was lot 100, Mario Testino, Kate at Mine, London, 2006, estimated at £70000-90000; it did not sell. The top outcome of the sale was tied between two lots: lot 73, Peter Beard, Loliondo Lion Charge, for The End of the Game/Last Word from Paradise, 1964/1990s, and lot 94, Peter Lindbergh, Estelle Lefebure, Karen Alexander, Rachel Williams, Linda Evangelista, Tatjana Patitz, Christy Turlington, 1988/2006, both estimated at £60000-80000 and both sold at £75000 (images above, via Sotheby’s).

100.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range, but there were no positive surprises in the sale.

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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Read more about: Peter Beard, Peter Lindbergh, Sotheby's

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