After a brief respite provided by its relatively routine single owner photographs sale, the malaise that had plagued the other two auction houses returned to haunt Phillips’ larger various owner sale yesterday. Once again, the combination of weakness at the top end and a lack of positive surprises was the recipe for trouble. While the overall Buy-In rate came in under 35%, that statistic was more than 52% for the subset of lots priced higher than $50000. With only one positive surprise (on a low priced Marvin Newman print), the Total Sale Proceeds had no chance to reach the low end of the estimate range; they missed that mark by roughly $1M. All in, it was a pretty bleak week of auction outcomes.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 194 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $3557500 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $5213500 |
| Total Lots Sold | 131 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 63 |
| Buy In % | 32.47% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $2565000 |
Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 75 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 54 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 21 |
| Low Buy In % | 28.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $511500 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $377125 |
| Mid Total Lots | 96 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 66 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 30 |
| Mid Buy In % | 32.29% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $2182000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $1254375 |
| Total High Lots | 23 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 11 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 12 |
| High Buy In % | 52.17% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $2520000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $933500 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 69, Richard Avedon, The Beatles, August 11, 1967, 1967/1988, estimated at $300000-500000; it did not sell. The top outcome of the sale was lot 209, Robert Frank, Trolley, New Orleans, 1955/1980s, estimated at $120000-180000, sold at $149000 (image in preview post).
92.91% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there was only 1 positive surprise in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (image above via Phillips):
Lot 180, Marvin Newman, Chicago (Boy blowing bubble), c1949-1952, estimated at $3000-5000, sold at $12500
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
These results have been updated to reflect sales made just after the conclusion of the auction and later included in the overall results.