The photography offered as part of Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art sales last week in New York was generally an overlooked footnote to the gargantuan haul (nearly $745 million in the Evening sale alone) that was taking place in the sale rooms. Aside from an echo of continued interest in the work of Richard Prince (as seen in the top photography lot and another appropriated print that jumped well above its estimate), there were few notable surprises. Leveraging an under 30% overall Buy-In rate, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography pushed up against the top end of the pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 41 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $3401000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $4844000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 29 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 12 |
| Buy In % | 29.27% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $4743125 |
Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 3 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 2 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 1 |
| Low Buy In % | 33.33% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $23000 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $14375 |
| Mid Total Lots | 18 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 13 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 5 |
| Mid Buy In % | 27.78% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $551000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $493750 |
| Total High Lots | 20 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 14 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 6 |
| High Buy In % | 30.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $4270000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $4235000 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 22, Richard Prince, Untitled (Cowboy), 1994, estimated at $900000-1200000; it was also the top photography outcome of the three sales at $1745000.
86.21% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range, and there were a total of 3 surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):
Lot 485, Sherrie Levine, Untitled (After Walker Evans: Positive) #5, 1990, estimated at $15000-20000,sold at $52500 (image above, middle, via Christie’s)
Lot 486, Richard Prince, Untitled (Cereal), 1982-1984, estimated at $60000-80000, sold at $389000 (image above, right, via Christie’s)
Lot 543, Matthew Barney, Cremaster 4: The Loughton Candidate, 1994, estimated at5 $20000-30000, sold at $62500 (image above, left, via Christie’s)
Complete lot by lot results can be found here (Evening), here (Morning), and here (Afternoon).
