The works of Andreas Gursky were an important benchmark in Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening and Day sales in London, and with the help of Prada I covering its high estimate by more than £100000, the Total Sale Proceeds of the photography in the two sales came in above the midpoint of the range. While the buy-in rate for the photography crept up over 30%, it was certainly a respectable outcome overall.

Further highlights on the performance of the rest of the non-photography lots at all three major houses can be found here.

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

Total Lots: 36
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: £612000
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: £866000
Total Lots Sold: 25
Total Lots Bought In: 11
Buy In %: 30.56%
Total Sale Proceeds: £772725

Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post, here):

Low Total Lots: 1
Low Sold: 1
Low Bought In: 0
Buy In %: 00.00%
Total Low Estimate: £5000
Total Low Sold: £12500

Mid Total Lots: 24
Mid Sold: 16
Mid Bought In: 8
Buy In %: 33.33%
Total Mid Estimate: £323000
Total Mid Sold: £214375

High Total Lots: 11
High Sold: 8
High Bought In: 3
Buy In %: 27.27%
Total High Estimate: £538000
Total High Sold: £545850

92.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above their estimate. There were four surprises in this sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 2 Andreas Gursky, Prada I, 1996, at £175250
Lot 124 Louise Lawler, Not Yet Titled, 2003, at £12500
Lot 205A Massimo Vitali, Rosignano Solvay Sea III, 1998, at £18750
Lot 213 Shirin Neshat, Untitled (from Women of Allah Series), 1994, at £27500

The top lot by High estimate was lot 8, Andreas Gursky, Salerno, 1990, at £90000-120000; it sold for £163250. The top outcome of the sale was lot 2, Andreas Gursky, Prada I, 1996, at £175250

Complete lot by lot results can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).

Christie’s
8 King Street, St. James’s
London SW1Y 6QT