Auction Results: Photographs, November 1, 2018 @Phillips London

The various owner Photographs auction at Phillips in London last week began with a twist – the first 12 lots, all 19th century works from French makers and with an aggregate high estimate of £730000, were withdrawn from the sale. When the dust settled on the rest of the action, the overall Buy-In rate came in near 25%, but with few positive surprises to boost the tally, the Total Sale Proceeds fell 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 108
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate £1280000
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate £1886000
Total Lots Sold 79
Total Lots Bought In 29
Buy In % 26.85%
Total Sale Proceeds £1270875

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

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 8
Total Low Lots Sold 8
Total Low Lots Bought In 0
Low Buy In % 0.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots £40000
Total Proceeds from Low Lots £40000
Mid Total Lots 80
Total Mid Lots Sold 57
Total Mid Lots Bought In 23
Mid Buy In % 28.75%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots £856000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots £584625
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 £990000
Total Proceeds from High Lots £646250

The top lot by High estimate was lot 28, William Eggleston, Dust Bells Volume II, 1965-1974/2004, estimated at £80000-120000. It was also the top outcome of the sale at £93750 (image above, via Phillips).

93.67% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 5 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Phillips):

Lot 77, Carlo Mollino, Untitled (2 prints), 1960s, estimated at £4000-6000, sold at £28750

Lot 93, André Kertész, Meudon, 1928/later, estimated at £4000-6000, sold at £13750

Lot 96, Francesca Woodman, Untitled, Providence, Rhode Island, 1976/later, estimated at £5000-7000, sold at £15000

Lot 99, Francesca Woodman, Untitled, Providence, Rhode Island, from Space2, 1977/later, estimated at £5000-7000, sold at £21250

Lot 112, Nan Goldin, Kim in Rhinestones, Paris, 1991, estimated at £3000-5000, sold at £10625

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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Read more about: André Kertész, Carlo Mollino, Francesca Woodman, Nan Goldin, William Eggleston, Phillips

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