The results from the Photographs Signature Auction last week at Heritage were stronger than usual, with a few more top tier outcomes that helped drive the numbers. The top lot Ansel Adams print jumped to more than 2X its high estimate, and the overall Buy-In rate settled in at a respectable 19%. Heritage has often suffered from too many lots sold below their estimate ranges, and that pattern returned here, with nearly 60% of the lots that found a buyer doing so underneath the low estimate. But in this case, the momentum of the higher priced sales overcame that drag, pulling the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $1.5M) up into 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 | 377 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $1292200 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $1992800 |
| Total Lots Sold | 303 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 74 |
| Buy In % | 19.63% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $1505288 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 351 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 282 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 69 |
| Low Buy In % | 19.66% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $1328800 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $864600 |
| Mid Total Lots | 25 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 20 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 5 |
| Mid Buy In % | 20.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $604000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $500688 |
| Total High Lots | 1 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 1 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 0 |
| High Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $60000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $140000 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 73008, Ansel Adams, The Grand Teton and The Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, 1942/1973-1977, estimated at $40000-60000; it was also the top outcome of the sale at $140000 (image above, via Heritage.)
Only 40.26% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 15 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Heritage):
Lot 73008, Ansel Adams, The Grand Teton and The Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, 1942/1973-1977, estimated at $40000-60000, sold at $162500
Lot 73011, Robert Mapplethorpe, Tampa Orchids, 1985, estimated at $3000-5000, sold at $12188
Lot 73012, Robert Mapplethorpe, Irises, 1986/1987, estimated at $15000-25000, sold at $112500
Lot 73035, Paul Strand, Family, Luzzara, 1953/1975, estimated at $1500-2500, sold at $7813
Lot 73144, Robert Mapplethorpe, Ken Moody, 1985, estimated at $2000-3000, sold at $8125
Lot 73199, Diane Arbus, Blaze Starr in her Living Room, Baltimore, Maryland, 1964/later, estimated at $6000-8000, sold at $22500
Lot 73203, Francesca Woodman, Untitled (Providence, Rhode Island), c1975/later, estimated at $6000-8000, sold at $27500
Lot 73206, Francesca Woodman, Untitled (Providence, Rhode Island), 1976/later, estimated at $5000-7000, sold at $19375
Lot 73224, Henri Cartier-Bresson, The Decisive Moment, 1952, estimated at $1000-1500, sold at $4000
Lot 73233, Sebastião Salgado, Cast of Thousands, Serra Pelada, in the Gold Mine of Pará, Brazil, 1986/later, estimated at $5000-7000, sold at $16250
Lot 73264, Edward Weston, Nude, 1918/1970s, estimated at $2000-3000, sold at $7188
Lot 73268, W. Eugene Smith, Tomoko Uemura in Her Bath, 1971, estimated at $7000-10000, sold at $42500
Lot 73278, Edward Curtis, Red Cloud – Ogalala (Plate 10, Vol. III, from “The North American Indian”), 1905, estimated at $1500-2500, sold at $5000
Lot 73279, Laura Gilpin, Navajo Family with Flag (from Enduring Navajo series), 1950, estimated at $1500-2500, sold at $5250
Lot 73314, Joel-Peter Witkin, Humor and Fear, New Mexico, 1999, estimated at $1500-2500, sold at $11250
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
