Auction Results: Photographs, May 21, 2015 @Phillips London

On the back of a respectable 23% Buy-In rate, Phillips’ recent various owner Photographs sale in London delivered solid results and took the prize for the most photo revenue of the three main houses during the week. Even with the top lot Arbus print failing to sell, there were enough positive surprises to bring the Total Sale Proceeds comfortably into the middle of the pre-sale estimate range.

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

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 144
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate £1592000
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate £2223000
Total Lots Sold 111
Total Lots Bought In 33
Buy In % 22.92%
Total Sale Proceeds £1736500

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

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 38
Total Low Lots Sold 29
Total Low Lots Bought In 9
Low Buy In % 23.68%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots £135000
Total Proceeds from Low Lots £127000
Mid Total Lots 86
Total Mid Lots Sold 68
Total Mid Lots Bought In 18
Mid Buy In % 20.93%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots £897000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots £824000
Total High Lots 20
Total High Lots Sold 14
Total High Lots Bought In 6
High Buy In % 30.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots £1216000
Total Proceeds from High Lots £785500

The top lot by High estimate was lot 89, Diane Arbus, Identical Twins, Roselle, NJ, 1967, estimated at £250000-350000; it did not sell. The top outcome of the sale was lot 23, Herb Ritts, Versace Dress, Back View, El Mirage, 1990, estimated at £70000-90000, sold at £158500.

97.30% of the photo lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 8 surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images below via Sotheby’s):

Lot 15, William Klein, Simone +Nina, Piazza di Spagna, Rome(Vogue), 1960/later, estimated at £4002000-3000, sold at £7500

Lot 18, Wolfgang Tillmans, Anemone II, 2003/2004, estimated at £2000-3000, sold at £9375

Lot 28, Guy Bourdin, Charles Jourdan, Spring, 1976/later, estimated at £4000-6000, sold at £12500

Lot 32, Miroslav Tichý, Untitled, 1950-1980, estimated at £1500-2000, sold at £5250

Lot 33, Miroslav Tichý, Untitled, 1950-1980, estimated at £2000-3000, sold at £6250

Lot 114, Nick Brandt, Portrait of Zebra Mother and Baby, Ngorongoro, 2005, estimated at £2000-3000, sold at £8125

Lot 116, Ruud van Empel, Boy & Girl, 2008, estimated at £30000-40000, sold at £80500

Lot 132, Elliott Erwitt, California, 1955/later, estimated at £1500-2000, sold at £6000

Complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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Read more about: Elliott Erwitt, Guy Bourdin, Miroslav Tichý, Nick Brandt, Ruud van Empel, William Klein, Wolfgang Tillmans, Phillips ~ 450 Park

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