Auction Results: Photographs, September 25, 2020 @Phillips London

The COVID-rearranged fall auction season for photography got started earlier this week with a various owner Photographs auction at Phillips in London. The results were surprisingly strong, given the circumstances. The top lot Richard Avedon print of Brigitte Bardot found a buyer within its estimate range, and was then quickly bested by a Mario Testino print of Kate Moss. With a low overall Buy-In rate (under 14%) and a number of positive surprises, the Total Sale Proceeds (of just over £2.7M) came in near the top of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.

The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 173
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate £1952500
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate £2839700
Total Lots Sold 149
Total Lots Bought In 24
Buy In % 13.87%
Total Sale Proceeds £2705563

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

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 46
Total Low Lots Sold 40
Total Low Lots Bought In 6
Low Buy In % 13.04%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots £180700
Total Proceeds from Low Lots £161938
Mid Total Lots 100
Total Mid Lots Sold 87
Total Mid Lots Bought In 13
Mid Buy In % 13.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots £1049000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots £1129875
Total High Lots 27
Total High Lots Sold 22
Total High Lots Bought In 5
High Buy In % 18.52%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots £1610000
Total Proceeds from High Lots £1413750

The top lot by High estimate was lot 75, Richard Avedon, Brigitte Bardot, hair by Alexandre, Paris, January 27, 1959, estimated at £180000-220000; it sold for £212500. The top outcome of the sale was lot 76, Mario Testino, Exposed, Kate Moss, London, 2008, estimated at £80000-120000, sold at £225000 (image above, via Phillips).

89.93% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 11 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Phillips):

Lot 1, Zanele Muholi, Zodwa, Paris from Somnyama Ngonyama, 2014, estimated at £10000-15000, sold at £35000

Lot 8, Yoo Hyun Mi, Earth No. 1 from Still Life, 2007, estimated at £5000-7000, sold at £22500

Lot 9, Eiji Ohashi, Roadside Lights #016, 2016, estimated at £10000-15000, sold at £33750

Lot 82, Terry O’Neill, Brigitte Bardot, Spain, 1971/later, estimated at £7000-9000, sold at £22500

Lot 83, Terry O’Neill, Audrey Hepburn with dove, St. Tropez, 1967/later, estimated at £7000-9000, sold at £25000

Lot 104, Martin Schoeller, Angelina with Blood, 2003, estimated at £7000-9000, sold at £25000

Lot 133, Ikko Narahara, Shadow of car driving through desert, Arizona, from Where Time Has Vanished, 1971/1976, estimated at £5000/7000, sold at £15000

Lot 141, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Tyrrhenian Sea, Priano, 1994, estimated at £12000-18000, sold at £37500

Lot 142, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Time Exposed, 1991, estimated at £8000-12000, sold at £30000

Lot 162, Brett Weston, Underwater Nude, 1981, estimated at £2000-3000, sold at £6000

Lot 167, Terry O’Neill, David Bowie, Diamond Dogs, London, 1974/later, estimated at £2000-3000, sold at £6875

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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Read more about: Brett Weston, Eiji Ohashi, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Ikko Narahara, Mario Testino, Martin Schoeller, Terry O'Neill, Yoo Hyun Mi, Zanele Muholi, Phillips

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