Auction Results: Post-War and Contemporary Art, March 1, 2018 @Christie’s

The most exciting photographic data point coming from Christie’s recent Post-War and Contemporary Art sale in New York was a non-event – the withdrawal of the top photo lot, an Andreas Gursky image from his series made in Pyongyang. With that work stripped out, the results were rather forgettable, with a few positive surprises helping to push the Total Sale Proceeds toward the bottom end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.

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

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 46
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $1252000
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $1839500
Total Lots Sold 31
Total Lots Bought In 15
Buy In % 32.61%
Total Sale Proceeds $1221875

Here is the breakdown (using our usual Low, Mid, and High price tier definitions):

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 14
Total Low Lots Sold 11
Total Low Lots Bought In 3
Low Buy In % 21.43%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots $80500
Total Proceeds from Low Lots $95625
Mid Total Lots 21
Total Mid Lots Sold 13
Total Mid Lots Bought In 8
Mid Buy In % 38.10%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $559000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $441250
Total High Lots 11
Total High Lots Sold 10
Total High Lots Bought In 1
High Buy In % 9.09%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $1350000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $685000

The top photographic lot by High estimate was lot 271, Andreas Gursky, Pyongyang III, 2007, estimated at $600000-800000; it was withdrawn (its estimates/proceeds have been removed from the statistical analysis). The top photographic outcome of the sale was lot 220, Cindy Sherman, Untitled #411, 2003, estimated at $100000-150000, sold at $162500 (image above, via Christie’s).

93.55% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 4 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Christie’s):

Lot 238, Louise Lawler, Monogram, 1984-1999, estimated at $2000-3000, sold at $32500

Lot 239, Sarah Charlesworth, Teacups, 2002, estimated at $1000-1500, sold at $4000

Lot 240, Sarah Charlesworth, Toile, 2004, estimated at $3000-5000, sold at $11875

Lot 365, Marina Abramovic, The Kitchen V, Carrying the Milk, 2009, estimated at $8000-12000, sold at $65000

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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Read more about: Cindy Sherman, Louise Lawler, Marina Abramović, Sarah Charlesworth, Christie's

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