Auction Results: Photographs, November 21, 2023 @Phillips London

The results from the recent various owner Photographs sale at Phillips in London were generally in line with expectations. While one of the top lots was withdrawn prior to the sale (a print by Nick Knight, and an auction practice which has become more prevalent of late), a nude by Irving Penn jumped up to fill in the gap. The overall Buy-In rate edged above 31% and there were only a handful of positive surprises, but the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly £1.3M) still fell in 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 117
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate £1177000
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate £1749000
Total Lots Sold 80
Total Lots Bought In 37
Buy In % 31.62%
Total Sale Proceeds £1331468

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

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 44
Total Low Lots Sold 28
Total Low Lots Bought In 16
Low Buy In % 36.36%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots £277000
Total Proceeds from Low Lots £175133
Mid Total Lots 67
Total Mid Lots Sold 48
Total Mid Lots Bought In 19
Mid Buy In % 28.36%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots £1132000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots £899795
Total High Lots 6
Total High Lots Sold 4
Total High Lots Bought In 2
High Buy In % 33.33%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots £340000
Total Proceeds from High Lots £256540

The top lot by High estimate was tied between two lots, both estimated at £50000-70000: lot 14, Nick Knight, Kate, 2006/2015, and lot 34, Thomas Struth, Paradise 25, Yuquehy/Brazil, 2001. The Knight print was withdrawn prior to the sale, and the Struth print sold at £69850. The top outcome of the sale was lot 46, Irving Penn, Sitting Nude Rear, New York, 1993, estimated at £30000-50000, sold at £107950 (image above, via Phillips).

92.50% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 4 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Phillips):

Lot 1, Prince Gyasi, Limitless, 2023, estimated at £18000-22000, sold at £44450

Lot 4, Evelyn Bencicova, I don’t exist from Artificial Tears, 2017, estimated at £10000-15000, sold at £57150

Lot 6, Andrea Torres Balaguer, Hyacinth from Hivernacle, 2022, estimated at £10000-15000, sold at £44450

Lot 46, Irving Penn, Sitting Nude Rear, New York, 1993, estimated at £30000-50000, sold at £107950

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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Read more about: Andrea Torres Balaguer, Evelyn Bencicova, Irving Penn, Prince Gyasi, Phillips

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