Auction Results: Photographs, October 12, 2022 @Phillips

It’s been a bumpy fall auction season for photography, but Phillips finished up the run of major sales in New York with a solid, meet-the-expectations kind of outing. The top lot 19th century San Francisco panorama sold within its estimate range, there were a handful of positive surprises, and the overall Buy-In rate settled in just under 30%. When the dust settled on the more than 300 lots on offer, the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $4.5M) essentially met the low end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range. No lightning strikes or major news items, but a predictable workmanlike outcome nonetheless.

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

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 312
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $4595450
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $6856450
Total Lots Sold 221
Total Lots Bought In 91
Buy In % 29.17%
Total Sale Proceeds $4583125

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

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 139
Total Low Lots Sold 104
Total Low Lots Bought In 35
Low Buy In % 25.18%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots $907450
Total Proceeds from Low Lots $725004
Mid Total Lots 147
Total Mid Lots Sold 100
Total Mid Lots Bought In 47
Mid Buy In % 31.97%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $3379000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $2255400
Total High Lots 26
Total High Lots Sold 17
Total High Lots Bought In 9
High Buy In % 34.62%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $2570000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $1602720

The top lot by High estimate was lot 123, George Robinson Fardon, San Francisco, Cal., 1855, estimated at $150000-250000; it was also the top outcome of the sale at $189000 (image above via Phillips).

91.40% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 8 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Phillips):

Lot 91, Gordon Parks, American Gothic, Washington D.C., 1942/later, estimated at $5000-7000, sold at $21420

Lot 159, Lewis Baltz, Santa Cruz, 1970, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $32760

Lot 164, Mark Morrisroe, Untitled, NYC (Jonathan and Stafanelli), 1985, estimated at $7000-9000, sold at $40320

Lot 200, Cindy Sherman, Untitled (Madonna), 1975/1997, estimated at $3000-5000, sold at $11970

Lot 222, Nan Goldin, Jimmy Paulette and Misty in the taxi, NYC, 1991, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $40320

Lot 227, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, New York (Afternoon Delight), 1997/c2010, estimated at $6000-8000, sold at $16380

Lot 259, Zanele Muholi, Ntobza Mkhwanazi, BB Section Umlazi township, Durban from Faces and Phases, 2012, estimated at $4000-6000, sold at $13860

Lot 277, Louise Lawler, Untitled (Salon Hodler), 1992-1993, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $36540

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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Read more about: Cindy Sherman, George Robinson Fardon, Gordon Parks, Lewis Baltz, Louise Lawler, Mark Morrisroe, Nan Goldin, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Zanele Muholi, Phillips

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