The results from the various owner Photographs sale last week at Phillips in New York were largely uneventful. The top lot Diane Arbus print was withdrawn, leaving room for a Josef Koudelka “Gypsies” portfolio to take the top honors, setting a new auction record for Koudelka at $283800 in the process. The overall Buy-In rate hovered near 30%, and with a handful of positive surprises and a new auction record for a print by Tyler Mitchell, the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $3.6M) came in above 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 | 212 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $3487600 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $5203900 |
| Total Lots Sold | 149 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 63 |
| Buy In % | 29.72% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $3584523 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 92 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 69 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 23 |
| Low Buy In % | 25.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $592900 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $518193 |
| Mid Total Lots | 104 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 70 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 34 |
| Mid Buy In % | 32.69% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $2491000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $1747950 |
| Total High Lots | 16 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 10 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 6 |
| High Buy In % | 37.50% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $2120000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $1318380 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 119, Diane Arbus, A Jewish giant at home with his parents in the Bronx, N.Y., 1970/1970-1971, estimated at $300000-500000; it was withdrawn. The top outcome of the sale was lot 242, Josef Koudelka, Gypsies (60 prints), 1962-1968/1989, estimated at $150000-250000, sold at $283800 (image above via Phillips).
92.62% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 8 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Phillips):
Lot 131, Slim Aarons, Poolside Pairs, 1970/later, estimated at $7000-9000, sold at $24510
Lot 164, Wolfgang Tillmans, From Within, 1999, estimated at $7000-9000, sold at $20640
Lot 183, Evelyn Hofer, Bicycle Girl, Dublin, 1966/1993, estimated at $2500-3500, sold at $7740
Lot 208, Bruce Davidson, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Rotunda with Late Afternoon Shadows, c1980, estimated at $800-1200, sold at $3096
Lot 214, Laurie Simmons, Pushing Lipstick (The Approach), 1979, estimated at $2000-3000, sold at $6192
Lot 258, Robert Mapplethorpe, Cala Lillies, 1983, estimated at $15000-25000, sold at $70950
Lot 267, Robert Mapplethorpe, Tulip, 1984/2004, estimated at $15000-25000, sold at $54180
Lot 276, György Kepes, Juliet with Frames, 1938-1939, estimated at $7000-9000, sold at $21930
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
