With no photography lots in either the 20th/21st Century: London Evening Sale or The Art of the Surreal Evening Sale, the photography responsibility for the spring London season at Christie’s fell on the Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale last Wednesday. A Wolfgang Tillmans abstraction led the way, and found a buyer well above its pre-sale estimate range, essentially carrying the rest of the sale with its positive momentum. With a respectable overall Buy-In rate for photography of 20%, the Total Sales Proceeds for photography (of roughly £600K) came in above the high end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 10 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | £336000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | £501000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 8 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 2 |
| Buy In % | 20.00% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | £604170 |
Here is the breakdown (using our usual Low, Mid, and High price tier definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 1 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 0 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 1 |
| Low Buy In % | 100.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | £6000 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | £0 |
| Mid Total Lots | 5 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 4 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 1 |
| Mid Buy In % | 20.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | £125000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | £156870 |
| Total High Lots | 4 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 4 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 0 |
| High Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | £370000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | £447300 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 297, Wolfgang Tillmans, Freischwimmer 39, 2004, estimated at £120000-180000; it was also the top photography outcome of the sale at £302400 (image above, via Christie’s).
100.00% of the photo lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there was just 1 positive surprise in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (image above, via Christie’s):
Lot 310, Dieter Roth & Richard Hamilton, Interfaces 15 and 16, 1977-1978, estimated at £20000-30000, sold at £68400
Complete lot by lot results can be found here.
