Auction Results: Post-War & Contemporary Art Day Sale, October 7, 2020 @Christie’s

The photography on offer in Christie’s recent Post-War & Contemporary Art Day Sale in New York was driven by two high priced lots, and with both lots finding buyers, everything else hardly mattered. The top outcome was a Barbara Kruger print (at $675K), and even with a 40% Buy-In rate for photography and no positive surprises, led by the two top lots, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography (of $1.3M) came in at the middle of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.

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

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 15
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $1013000
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $1609000
Total Lots Sold 9
Total Lots Bought In 6
Buy In % 40.00%
Total Sale Proceeds $1335000

Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions):

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 1
Total Low Lots Sold 1
Total Low Lots Bought In 0
Low Buy In % 0.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots $9000
Total Proceeds from Low Lots $8750
Mid Total Lots 8
Total Mid Lots Sold 6
Total Mid Lots Bought In 2
Mid Buy In % 25.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $240000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $151250
Total High Lots 6
Total High Lots Sold 2
Total High Lots Bought In 4
High Buy In % 66.67%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $1360000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $1175000

The top photography lot by High estimate was tied between two lots, both estimated at $300000-500000: lot 157, Barbara Kruger, Untitled (Don’t Shoot), 2013, and lot 176, Hiroshi Sugimoto, North Atlantic Ocean, Cape Breton Island, 1996. The Kruger print was the top photography outcome of the sale at $675000 (image above, via Christie’s), while the Sugimoto print sold at $500000.

77.78% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were no positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate).

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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Read more about: Barbara Kruger, Christie's

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