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.
