Weakness in the top price tier flattened the results of the Photographs sale at Christie’s last week. The top lot Moholy-Nagy print failed to sell, as did high priced lots from Man Ray and Alfred Stieglitz. An overall Buy-In rate over 35% didn’t help the situation, nor did just two positive surprises. When the dust settled, the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $1.25M) came in well below 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 | 114 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $2291500 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $3487500 |
| Total Lots Sold | 74 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 40 |
| Buy In % | 35.09% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $1252566 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 41 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 30 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 11 |
| Low Buy In % | 26.83% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $272500 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $170856 |
| Mid Total Lots | 60 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 40 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 20 |
| Mid Buy In % | 33.33% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $1435000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $820890 |
| Total High Lots | 13 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 4 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 9 |
| High Buy In % | 69.23% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $1780000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $260820 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 6, László Moholy-Nagy, Untitled, 1928-1929, estimated at $200000-300000; it did not sell. The top outcome of the sale was lot 3, Man Ray, Solarized Portrait of Mary Gill, 1931, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $138600 (image above, via Christie’s.)
72.97% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of just 2 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Christie’s):
Lot 3, Man Ray, Solarized Portrait of Mary Gill, 1931, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $138600
Lot 113, Ren Hang, Untitled, 2014, estimated at $4000-6000, sold at $15120
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
