Auction Results: Photographs, October 7, 2021 @Phillips

The various owner Photographs sale at Phillips last week delivered predictably stable results. While the top lot Moholy-Nagy photogram didn’t sell, plenty of positive surprises sprinkled throughout the sale worked to balance out the missing revenue, with new auction records set for works by Deana Lawson, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, and Ori Gersht. When the dust settled, the overall Buy-In rate was a respectable 25%, leading to Total Sale Proceeds of roughly $4.5M, which landed right in 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 246
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $3751800
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $5574700
Total Lots Sold 185
Total Lots Bought In 61
Buy In % 24.80%
Total Sale Proceeds $4568130

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

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 101
Total Low Lots Sold 81
Total Low Lots Bought In 20
Low Buy In % 19.80%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots $631700
Total Proceeds from Low Lots $549990
Mid Total Lots 125
Total Mid Lots Sold 90
Total Mid Lots Bought In 35
Mid Buy In % 28.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $2938000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $2283120
Total High Lots 20
Total High Lots Sold 14
Total High Lots Bought In 6
High Buy In % 30.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $2005000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $1735120

The top lot by High estimate was lot 107, László Moholy-Nagy, Photogram, 1920s, estimated at $300000-500000; it did not sel. The top outcome of the sale sale was lot 129, Ansel Adams, The Tetons and the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, 1942/1973-1977, estimated at $100000-150000, sold at $289800 (image above via Phillips).

88.11% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and 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 Phillips):

Lot 84, Frank Paulin, I Love You (Chicago El), 1951, estimated at $1200-1800, sold at $4032

Lot 94, Brassaï, On the Boulevard Saint-Jacques, 1933/later, estimated at $2000-3000, sold at $6930

Lot 128, Ansel Adams, Golden Gate Headlands from Lincoln Park, San Francisco, c1950/1973-1977, estimated at $15000-20000, sold at $45360

Lot 141, Dorothea Lange, The Road West, New Mexico, 1938/later?, estimated at $20000-30000, sold at $75600

Lot 145, Dorothea Lange, Gravestone, St. George, Utah, 1953, estimated at $5000-7000, sold at $15120

Lot 239, Ori Gersht, Untitled 5 from Blow Up, 2007, estimated at $25000-35000, sold at $107100

Lot 255, Vik Muniz, Three Flags, after Jasper Johns from Pictures of Magazines 2, 2014, estimated at $50000-70000, sold at $163800

Lot 262, Alex Soth, Misty, 2005, estimated at $6000-8000, sold at $30240

Lot 286, Jim Campbell, Untitled (Grand Central Station 3), 2009, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $40320

Lot 298, Loretta Lux, At the Window, 2004, estimated at $4000-6000, sold at $16380

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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Read more about: Alec Soth, Ansel Adams, Brassaï (Gyula Halász), Dorothea Lange, Frank Paulin, Jim Campbell, Loretta Lux, Ori Gersht, Vik Muniz, Phillips

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