The summer has arrived, and so the photographic results from the Post-War to Present and Post-War to Present: Online sales at Christie’s in London last week were a sleepwalk. Both top photo lots failed to sell, leading to a SolLeWitt series taking the top lot honors. The overall Buy-In rate for photography tallied up above 38% (with one additional withdrawal), and with just a few positive surprises, the Total Sales Proceeds for photography (of roughly £308K) came in well below the low end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 42 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | £592830 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | £850500 |
| Total Lots Sold | 26 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 16 |
| Buy In % | 38.10% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | £308229 |
Here is the breakdown (using our usual Low, Mid, and High price tier definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 23 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 14 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 9 |
| Low Buy In % | 39.13% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | £78500 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | £91186 |
| Mid Total Lots | 12 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 10 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 2 |
| Mid Buy In % | 16.67% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | £232000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | £102743 |
| Total High Lots | 7 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 2 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 5 |
| High Buy In % | 71.43% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | £540000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | £114300 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was tied between two lots, each estimated at £70000-100000: lot 125, Richard Prince, Untitled (Married), 1978-1979, and lot 155, Gilbert & George, A Slight Breeze, 1973. Both lots failed to sell. The top photography outcome of the sales was lot 336, Sol LeWitt, A sphere lit from the top, four sides, and all their combinations, 2004, estimated at £60000-80000, sold at £69850 (image above, via Christie’s).
65.38% of the photography lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 3 positive surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Christie’s):
Lot 329, Francesca Woodman, Self-Portrait, Easter, Rome, 1978/later, estimated at £4000-6000, sold at £27940
Lot 366, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Seduction, 1985, estimated at £5000-7000, sold at £15240
Lot 370, Doug Aitken, digital, 2005, estimated at £3000-5000, sold at £12065
Complete lot by lot results can be found here (Post-War to Present) and here (Post-War to Present: Online).
