Auction Results: Photographs, October 7, 2016 @Sotheby’s

The results from Sotheby’s recent various owner Photographs sale were generally muted, largely brought down by softness in the top price tier. While the top lot Alfred Stieglitz print did sell, the overall Buy-In rate was uncomfortably high (just under 35%). And with just a handful of positive surprises, the Total Sale Proceeds fell under the pre-sale estimate range.

The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 178
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $3379000
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $5226000
Total Lots Sold 117
Total Lots Bought In 61
Buy In % 34.27%
Total Sale Proceeds $2897875

Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 62
Total Low Lots Sold 41
Total Low Lots Bought In 21
Low Buy In % 33.87%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots $491000
Total Proceeds from Low Lots $301625
Mid Total Lots 98
Total Mid Lots Sold 65
Total Mid Lots Bought In 33
Mid Buy In % 33.67%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $2255000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $1465000
Total High Lots 18
Total High Lots Sold 11
Total High Lots Bought In 7
High Buy In % 38.89%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $2480000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $1131250

The top lot by High estimate was lot 57, Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O’Keeffe, 1918, estimated at $300000-500000 (image in preview post). It was also the top outcome of the sale at $250000.

82.05% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 4 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Sotheby’s):

Lot 112, Yves Klein/Harry Shunk & János Kender, Leap into the Void, 1960/late 1960s, estimated at $15000-25000, sold at $62500 (image in preview post)

Lot 120, William Helburn, Clean New York Campaign, Wall Street, 1960/later, estimated at $6000-9000, sold at $18750

Lot 140, Thomas Struth, Crosby Street, 1978, estimated at $15000-25000, sold at $61250

Lot 161, Andy Warhol, Untitled (White Brick Wall), 1976-1986, estimated at $20000-30000, sold at $75000

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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Read more about: Andy Warhol, Thomas Struth, William Helburn, Sotheby's

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