The photography included in Christie’s recent Post-War and Contemporary Art sales in London performed admirably. With an overall Buy-In rate for photography under 8% (only 2 passed lots, and no lots sold below their estimates) and a handful of positive surprises (particularly Ruff and Tillmans), the Total Sale Proceeds cleared the high end of the aggregate pre-sale range with some room to spare.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 26 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | £618000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | £903000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 24 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 2 |
| Buy In % | 7.69% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | £1192750 |
Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 2 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 2 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Low Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | £9000 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | £9500 |
| Mid Total Lots | 11 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 11 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Mid Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | £169000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | £258500 |
| Total High Lots | 13 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 11 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 2 |
| High Buy In % | 15.38% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | £725000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | £924750 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was tied between two lots: lot 1, Wolfgang Tillmans, Freischwimmer 186, 2011, and lot 132, Cindy Sherman, Untitled #135, 1984, both estimated at £80000-120000; the Tillmans sold at £269000 and was the top photography outcome of the sales, while the Sherman did not sell (images in preview post).
100.00% of the photo lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 7 surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):
Lot 1, Wolfgang Tillmans, Freischwimmer 186, 2011, estimated at £80000-120000, sold at £269000 (image in preview post)
Lot 101, Louise Lawler, Date Painting, 2001, estimated at £10000-15000, sold at £40000 (image in preview post)
Lot 129, Louise Lawler, Kusama, 2005-2006, estimated at £12000-18000, sold at £37500 (image above, via Christie’s)
Lot 135, Thomas Ruff, Jpeg pt01, 2006, estimated at £20000-30000, sold at £197000 (image in preview post)
Lot 194, Peter Beard, Orphaned Cheetah Cubs, Mweiga, near Nyeri, Kenya, March 1968, 2003, estimated at £20000-30000, sold at £93500 (image above, via Christie’s)
Lot 307, Chris Levine, Kate Moss, Kate’s Lights (Pure), 2013, estimated at £8000-12000, sold at £37500 (image above, via Christie’s)
Lot 317, Gerhard Richter, Abstractes Bild (P1), 2014, estimated at £6000-8000, sold at £27500 (image above, via Christie’s)
Complete lot by lot results can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).
