Auction Results: Photographs, October 17, 2024 @Sotheby’s (online)

The results from the recent Photographs sale at Sotheby’s were generally uneventful, with weakness at the middle and upper price tiers dampening the overall numbers. A Peter Hujar portrait of David Wojnarowicz was the top outcome of the sale, but with an overall Buy-In rate above 30%, even a handful of positive surprises couldn’t push the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $1.96M) up toward even 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 122
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $2372000
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $3573000
Total Lots Sold 85
Total Lots Bought In 37
Buy In % 30.33%
Total Sale Proceeds $1964400

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

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 37
Total Low Lots Sold 33
Total Low Lots Bought In 4
Low Buy In % 10.81%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots $269000
Total Proceeds from Low Lots $238800
Mid Total Lots 70
Total Mid Lots Sold 45
Total Mid Lots Bought In 25
Mid Buy In % 35.71%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $1544000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $876000
Total High Lots 15
Total High Lots Sold 9
Total High Lots Bought In 6
High Buy In % 40.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $1760000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $849600

The top lot by High estimate was lot 31, Robert Frank, Pablo Mary and Andrea in Texas (U.S. 90, En Route to Del Rio, Texas), 1955/1960s, estimated at $200000-300000; it found a buyer at $180000, but it was not the top outcome of the sale. That honor went to lot 10, Peter Hujar, David Wojnarowicz Reclining (II), 1981, estimated at $50000-70000, sold at $228000 (image above via Sotheby’s).

67.06% 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 Sotheby’s):

Lot 10, Peter Hujar, David Wojnarowicz Reclining (II), 1981, estimated at $50000-70000, sold at $228000

Lot 32, Robert Frank, New Mexico (U. S. 285), 1955/before 1970, estimated at $50000-70000, sold at $156000

Lot 37, Larry Sultan, Suburban Street, West Valley Studio (from The Valley), 1999, estimated at $5000-7000, sold at $15600

Lot 46, Bill Owens, Selected Images from Suburbia (three prints), 1968-1974, estimated at $5000-7000, sold at $16800

Lot 82, Robert Capa, Pablo Picasso and Françoise Gilot, 1948/posthumous, estimated at $2000-3000, sold at $38400

Lot 89, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Rue Mouffetard, Paris, 1954/later, estimated at $15000-25000, sold at $50400

Lot 102, Peter Beard, Selected images (two prints), 1964/1991, 1965/1991, estimated at $8000-12000, sold at $31200

Lot 110, Bert Stern, Marilyn in Vogue (from The Last Sitting), 1962/1994, estimated at $3000-5000, sold at $10800

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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Read more about: Bert Stern, Bill Owens, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Larry Sultan, Peter Beard, Peter Hujar, Robert Capa, Robert Frank, Sotheby's

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