Auction Results: Photographs, May 18, 2017 @Christie’s London

The sailing was generally smooth at Christie’s recent various owner Photographs sale in London. With a respectable Buy-In rate of just over 23% and two handfuls of positive surprises (including multiple lots by Nobuyoshi Araki), even with some softness in the top lots, the Total Sale Proceeds still settled into the middle of aggregate pre-sale range.

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

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 97
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate £1247000
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate £1786000
Total Lots Sold 74
Total Lots Bought In 23
Buy In % 23.71%
Total Sale Proceeds £1541125

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

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 25
Total Low Lots Sold 21
Total Low Lots Bought In 4
Low Buy In % 16.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots £87000
Total Proceeds from Low Lots £103500
Mid Total Lots 58
Total Mid Lots Sold 44
Total Mid Lots Bought In 14
Mid Buy In % 24.14%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots £739000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots £671875
Total High Lots 14
Total High Lots Sold 9
Total High Lots Bought In 5
High Buy In % 35.71%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots £960000
Total Proceeds from High Lots £765750

The top lot by High estimate was lot 41, Helmut Newton, Private Property Suites I, II & III, 1984, estimated at £200000-300000 (image in preview post). It was also the top outcome of the sale at £221000.

91.89% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were 10 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (image above via Christie’s):

Lot 1, Nobuyoshi Araki, Untitled, from Summer Diary (Natsu Nikki), 2003, estimated at £1500-2500, sold at £8125

Lot 2, Nobuyoshi Araki, Untitled, from Colourscapes, 1991, estimated at £15000-20000, sold at £40000

Lot 3, Nobuyoshi Araki, Untitled, from Sensual Flowers, 1996, estimated at £1500-2500, sold at £14375

Lot 21, Guy Bourdin, French Vogue, March 1972, estimated at £12000-18000, sold at £50000

Lot 49, Peter Lindbergh, Christy Turlington, Los Angeles, American Vogue, 1988, estimated at £4000-60000, sold at £185000

Lot 63, David Hockney, La Chaise, 1973, estimated at £1500-2000, sold at £4750

Lot 64, David Hockney, Two Lemons and Four Limes, 1976, estimated at £1500-2000, sold at £4750

Lot 76, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Sea of Buddha (0010, 0011, 0012), 1995, estimated at £12000-18000, sold at £62500

Lot 86, Taryn Simon, White Tiger, (Kenny), Selective Inbreeding Turpentine Creek, Wildlife Refuge and Foundation, Erika Springs, Kansas, 2006/2007, estimated at £4000-6000, sold at £15000

Lot 95, Stuart Franklin, Tianamen Square, 4th June 1989, 1989/later, estimated at £1500-2500, sold at £9375

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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Read more about: David Hockney, Guy Bourdin, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Nobuyoshi Araki, Peter Lindbergh, Stuart Franklin, Taryn Simon, Christie's

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