It’s nearly impossible to salvage a decent overall outcome at an auction when your million dollar top lot fails to sell and only 4 out of the top 12 lots on offer find buyers. This was the reality faced by Christie’s with its various owner Photographs sale last week in New York. In general, there wasn’t much to report: the Buy-In rate crept up near 35% , there were few positive surprises, and the Total Sale Proceeds missed the low end of the range by a wide margin.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 242 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $6028500 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $8968000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 158 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 84 |
| Buy In % | 34.71% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $4535188 |
Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 58 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 39 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 19 |
| Low Buy In % | 32.76% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $425000 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $274398 |
| Mid Total Lots | 154 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 101 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 53 |
| Mid Buy In % | 34.42% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $3753000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $2475500 |
| Total High Lots | 30 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 18 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 12 |
| High Buy In % | 40.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $4790000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $1784750 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 267, Edward Curtis, The North American Indian, Portfolios 1-20 and Text Volumes 1-20, 1907-1930, estimated at $1000000-1500000;it did not sell. The top outcome of the sale was lot 303, William Eggleston, Memphis (Tricycle), c1970/1980, estimated at $250000-350000, sold at $293000.
94.94% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range, and there were a total of 5 surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate:
Lot 130, Berenice Abbott, New York at Night, 1932/1934, estimated at $20000-30000, sold at $87500 (image above, left, via Christie’s)
Lot 139, Irving Penn, The Hand of Miles Davis, New York, July 1, 1986, 1986, estimated at $70000-90000, sold at $245000
Lot 205, Francesca Woodman, Self Portrait, 1979/1980, estimated at $25000-35000, sold at $173000 (image above, middle, via Christie’s)
Lot 206, Francesca Woodman, Self-deciet (sic), 1978/1979,estimated at $15000-25000, sold at $50000
Lot 272, Ruth Bernhard, Spanish Dancer, 1971/later, estimated at $7000-9000, sold at $21250 (image above, right, via Christie’s)
Complete lot by lot results can be found here.
