The results from the various owner Photographs sale at Rago in New York last week were largely uneventful. With many lots offered with no reserve, it isn’t entirely surprising that nearly 40% of the lots that found buyers did so under their estimate ranges, or that the overall Buy-In rate came in just over 12% (no reserve tends to lead to sell through whatever the price). With a handful of positive surprises to help buoy the overall numbers, the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $295K) found their way to 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 | 141 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $261400 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $393700 |
| Total Lots Sold | 124 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 17 |
| Buy In % | 12.06% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $293550 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High price range definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 139 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 122 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 17 |
| Low Buy In % | 12.23% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $328700 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $252590 |
| Mid Total Lots | 1 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 1 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Mid Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $15000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $17920 |
| Total High Lots | 1 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 1 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 0 |
| High Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $50000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $23040 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 124, Richard Misrach, Untitled, 2002, estimated at $30000-50000; it was also the top outcome of the sale at $23040 (image above, via Rago).
Just 60.48% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 7 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate)(images above via Rago):
Lot 115, Tseng Kwong Chi, Notre Dame, Paris, France, 1983/1996, estimated at $4000-6000, sold at $14080
Lot 118, Larry Clark, Untitled (from the Tulsa series), 1971/later, estimated at $1000-1500, sold at $5376
Lot 127, Doug Rickard, No. 41.779976, Chicago (2007), 2011, estimated at $1000-2000, sold at $4480
Lot 133, Peter Garfield, Mobile Home (Angeleno), 1995, estimated at $800-1000, sold at $2432
Lot 135, Terry O’Neill, Faye Dunaway at the Pool, Beverly Hills, 1977, estimated at $2500-3500, sold at $8320
Lot 204, Brassaï, Matisse Drawing Nude Model at Villa d’Alésia, 1939/1973, estimated at $1500-2500, sold at $5120
Lot 219, Vivian Maier, Self-Portrait (Reflection in Silver Plate), 1954/2014, estimated at $1800-2400, sold at $5985
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
