A touch of softness in the highest price tier was all it took to weaken the results of the Photographs sale at Phillips in New York last week. The overall Buy-In rate came in just over 30%, but the passed lots were weighted toward the top end. While a Moholy-Nagy photogram jumped up to $375K and there were a few additional positive surprises, they weren’t enough to pull the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $3.5M) above 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 | 267 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $3869100 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $5681400 |
| Total Lots Sold | 186 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 81 |
| Buy In % | 30.34% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $3537000 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 137 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 99 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 38 |
| Low Buy In % | 27.74% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $912400 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $673875 |
| Mid Total Lots | 107 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 73 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 34 |
| Mid Buy In % | 31.78% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $2364000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $1574375 |
| Total High Lots | 23 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 14 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 9 |
| High Buy In % | 39.13% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $2405000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $1288750 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 83, Andreas Gursky, São Paulo, Sé, 2002, estimated at $400000-600000; it did not sell. The top outcome of the sale was lot 217, László Moholy-Nagy, Fotogramm, 1925-1928/1929, estimated at $80000-120000, sold at $375000 (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 6 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Phillips):
Lot 39, Dennis Hopper, Andy Warhol and Members of the Factory, 1964/2010, estimated at $5000-7000, sold at $16250
Lot 44, Peter Hujar, David Wojnarowicz, 1981, estimated at $8000-12000, sold at $45000
Lot 59, Nobuyoshi Araki, Kaori, 2004, estimated at $6000-8000, sold at $17500
Lot 93, Nan Goldin, Jimmy Paulette on David’s Bike, NYC, 1991, estimated at $7000-9000, sold at $20000
Lot 189, Pentti Sammallahti, Delhi, India (flock of birds), 1999/2018, estimated at $800-1200, sold at $3250
Lot 217, László Moholy-Nagy, Fotogramm, 1925-1928/1929, estimated at $80000-120000, sold at $375000
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
