The results from the various owner Photographs sale at Rago in New York last week were surprisingly solid. The top lot Andreas Gursky print sold above its estimate range, the overall Buy-In rate was under 10%, and there were plenty of positive surprises; the only soft side to the data was a decent number of lots that did sell doing so below their estimate ranges, but in the end, selling at a lower price is likely better than passing. When the dust settled, the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $680K) comfortably found their way to 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 | 195 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $595000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $878200 |
| Total Lots Sold | 176 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 19 |
| Buy In % | 9.74% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $680549 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High price range definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 180 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 162 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 18 |
| Low Buy In % | 10.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $562200 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $414299 |
| Mid Total Lots | 14 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 13 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 1 |
| Mid Buy In % | 7.14% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $246000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $195850 |
| Total High Lots | 1 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 1 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 0 |
| High Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $70000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $70400 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 114, Andreas Gursky, Ofenpass, 1994, estimated at $50000-70000; it was also the top outcome of the sale at $70400 (image above, via Rago).
Just 57.39% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range, but there were a total of 10 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate)(images above via Rago):
Lot 100, Diane Arbus, An Empty Movie Theater, N.Y.C., 1971/2003, estimated at $5000-7000, sold at $17920
Lot 122, Thomas Struth, Dusseldorf-Altsradt; Dusseldorf-Eller; Dusseldorf-Königsallee (3 prints), 2004, estimated at $1200-1800, sold at $4480
Lot 127, Michael Wolf, TC #39 (from the Transparent City series), 2008, estimated at $1000-1500, sold at $3328
Lot 141, Nan Goldin, Suzanne and Philippe on the Bench, Tompkins Square Park, NYC, 1983, estimated at $4000-6000, sold at $14080
Lot 143, Sally Mann, Self-Portrait with Jessie and Virginia, 2001, estimated at $2500-3500, sold at $7040
Lot 172, Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder Contemplating Glacier Park Wilderness Area July 1965-We went on 8 day backpack trip, my first mountain climb, 1965/1991, estimated at $800-1200, sold at $3458
Lot 175, Thomas Ruff, Sabine Weirauch (from the Porträts series), 1988, estimated at $1000-1500, sold at $4096
Lot 221, Naoya Hatakeyama, Underground #6303, 1999/2000, estimated at $2000-3000, sold at $10880
Lot 247, Maria Martínez-Cañas, Flight (Hospital Bed) II, 1998, estimated at $400-600, sold at $1792
Lot 265, Kunié Sugiura, Stacks-Chrysanthemums, 1996, estimated at $800-1200, sold at $2816
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
