Auction Results: Photographs, October 10, 2024 @Bonhams (online)

The results from the recent online sale of Photographs at Bonhams last week were generally underwhelming. The top lot William Eggleston print sold below its estimate range, and with an overall Buy-In rate over 47%, even a handful of positive surprises couldn’t buoy the numbers. When the timers expired, the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $600K) fell well 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 119
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $758000
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $1128000
Total Lots Sold 63
Total Lots Bought In 56
Buy In % 47.06%
Total Sale Proceeds $604672

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

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 96
Total Low Lots Sold 52
Total Low Lots Bought In 44
Low Buy In % 45.83%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots $535000
Total Proceeds from Low Lots $314752
Mid Total Lots 21
Total Mid Lots Sold 9
Total Mid Lots Bought In 12
Mid Buy In % 57.14%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $423000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $179840
Total High Lots 2
Total High Lots Sold 2
Total High Lots Bought In 0
High Buy In % 0.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $170000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $110080

The top lot by High estimate was lot 32, William Eggleston, Untitled (Near Glendora, Mississippi), c1970/2012, estimated at $70000-100000; it found a buyer at $460808, but it was not the top outcome of the sale. That honor went to lot 5, Ansel Adams, Portfolio Three (Yosemite Valley), 1926-1959/1960, estimated at $50000-70000, sold at $64000 (image above, via Bonhams.)

77.78% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were 5 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Bonhams):

Lot 11, Edward Curtis, Canyon de Chelly, 1904/1918, estimated at $5000-7000, sold at $16640

Lot 50, Adolph de Meyer, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, c1916, estimated at $3000-4000, sold at $20480

Lot 63, Tina Barney, The Reception (from ‘Theater of Manners’), 1985/2024, estimated at $6000-8000, sold at $33280

Lot 93, Ruth Bernhard, Crossover, 1969/later, estimated at $3000-5000, sold at $12160

Lot 109, Nan Goldin, Kim + Mark in my red car, Newton. MA., 1978/later, estimated at $4000-6000, sold at $15360

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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Read more about: Ansel Adams, Baron Adolph de Meyer, Edward Curtis, Nan Goldin, Ruth Bernhard, Tina Barney, Bonhams

One comment

  1. Pete /

    That hand-coloured Curtis is both wonderful to look at and thought provoking. I initially thought it was perhaps a Richard Prince appropriated Marlboro ad, a very early one.

    I’m probably fooling myself imagining it wasn’t similarly staged, and am befuddled to think of the dissonances and resonances in thought process and intent if it was.

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