A higher than usual Buy-In rate (near 40%) combined with softness in the upper price tiers led to weak results at the Photographs sale at Bonhams last week. A “Migrant Mother” print from Dorothea Lange took the top lot honors, but even with a handful of positive surprises, the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $670K) fell meaningfully 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 | 139 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $939700 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $1371300 |
| Total Lots Sold | 84 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 55 |
| Buy In % | 39.57% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $672206 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 113 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 72 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 41 |
| Low Buy In % | 36.28% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $590300 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $352256 |
| Mid Total Lots | 20 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 9 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 11 |
| Mid Buy In % | 55.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $361000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $167680 |
| Total High Lots | 6 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 3 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 3 |
| High Buy In % | 50.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $420000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $152270 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 48, Frank Worth, Marilyn Monroe: Platinum Photography (10 prints), 1953-1958/2009, estimated at $70000-90000; it did not sell. The top outcome of the sale was lot 10, Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California, 1936/c1950, estimated at $60000-80000, sold at $70350 (image above, via Bonhams.)
82.14% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were 8 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Bonhams):
Lot 2, Fan Ho, Approaching Shadow, 1954/2006, estimated at $3000-5000, sold at $20480
Lot 3, Fan Ho, Pattern, 1978, estimated at $3000-5000, sold at $10880
Lot 4, Martin Munkácsi, Liberia (Lake Tanganyika), c1930/2008, estimated at $3000-5000, sold at $15360
Lot 43, Willy Ronis, rue Muller (Paris), 1934/2000, estimated at $2000-3000, sold at $8320
Lot 74, Morley Baer, Kiva, San Ildefonse, New Mexico, 1973, estimated at $1000-1500, sold at $3072
Lot 88, Edward Steichen, Gorham Silver, New York (for J. Walter Thompson), 1929, estimated at $8000-12000, sold at $33280
Lot 115, Annie Leibovitz, Josie and Blue and Molly and Sticker and Diane, 1997, estimated at $2000-3000, sold at $12160
Lot 128, Yousuf Karsh, Ernest Hemingway, 1957/later, estimated at $3000-5000, sold at $10240
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
