Auction Results: Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening, Morning, and Afternoon Sales, November 15 and 16, 2016 @Christie’s

The contemporary photography included in Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art sales in New York last week generated very little heat. With an overall Buy-In rate for photography over 60% and no positive surprises, the offerings just didn’t seem to elicit much enthusiasm. With such soft support from bidders, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography fell well below the low end of the pre-sale estimate range.

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

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 24
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $1473000
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $2130000
Total Lots Sold 9
Total Lots Bought In 15
Buy In % 62.50%
Total Sale Proceeds $1037500

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

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 NA
Mid Total Lots 10
Total Mid Lots Sold 2
Total Mid Lots Bought In 8
Mid Buy In % 80.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $230000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $40000
Total High Lots 14
Total High Lots Sold 7
Total High Lots Bought In 7
High Buy In % 50.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $1900000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $997500

The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 163, Barbara Kruger, Face It! (Magenta) (Yellow) (Cyan) (Green), 2007, estimated at $200000-300000 (image in preview post); it sold at $150000. The top photography outcome of the sales was lot 1A, Jonathan Horowitz, Obama ’08, 2008, estimated at $100000-150000, sold at $223500 (image above via Christie’s).

88.89% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were no positive surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate).

The complete lot by lot results can be found here (Evening), here (Morning), and here (Afternoon).

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Read more about: Jonathan Horowitz, Christie's

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