With no photography lots in the Evening or Morning sessions at Christie’s recent Post-War and Contemporary Art sales in New York, the photography included in the series of sales settled into the quieter Afternoon slot. While the eye-popping $91M price tag for Jeff Koons’ Rabbit grabbed all the headlines, the photography results generally met expectations. With an overall Buy-In rate for photography that topped 35%, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography (of roughly $1.7M) came in near the midpoint of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 14 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $1578000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $2303000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 9 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 5 |
| Buy In % | 35.71% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $1723000 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 0 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | NA |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | NA |
| Low Buy In % | NA |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $0 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $0 |
| Mid Total Lots | 6 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 4 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 2 |
| Mid Buy In % | 33.33% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $173000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $205000 |
| Total High Lots | 8 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 5 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 3 |
| High Buy In % | 37.50% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $2130000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $1518000 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 821, Barbara Kruger, Untitled (When I hear the word culture I take out my checkbook), 1999, estimated at $300000-500000. It was also the top photography outcome of the sales at $519000 (image above, via Christie’s).
100.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were just 2 positive surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Christie’s):
Lot 823, David Hockney, Christopher Isherwood Talking to Bob Holman, 1983, estimated at $25000-35000, sold at $102500
Lot 911, Wangechi Mutu, Untitled, 2002, estimated at $20000-30000, sold at $60000
The complete lot by lot results can be found here (Evening), here (Morning), and here (Afternoon).
