The photography included in the recent run of contemporary art sales at Christie’s in New York last week was lightly sprinkled across four different sales – The Rosa de la Cruz Collection Evening, 21st Century Evening, 20th Century Evening, and Post-War & Contemporary Art Day – but with several high priced lots in each to attract bidders. The top photo outcome across the sales was a Diane Arbus twins print, which fetched nearly $1.2M, and there were eight more photo lots that ended up selling for six or seven figure sums. When the dust settled, a pair of positive surprises helped the numbers a bit, leading to Total Sale Proceeds for photography of just over $5.6M, topping the high end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 13 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $3880000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $5590000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 12 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 1 |
| Buy In % | 7.69% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $5603220 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions):
| 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 | $0 |
| Mid Total Lots | 1 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 1 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Mid Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $50000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $40320 |
| Total High Lots | 12 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 11 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 1 |
| High Buy In % | 8.33% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $5540000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $5562900 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was tied between two lots, both estimated at $800000-1200000: lot 45A, Diane Arbus, Identical twins, (Cathleen and Colleen), Roselle, New Jersey, 1966/1967-1969, and lot 7B, Edward Weston, Shell (Nautilus), 1927; the Arbus lot was the top photography outcome of the sales at $1197000 (image above, via Christie’s), while the Weston lot sold at $1071000.
100.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were two positive surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Christie’s):
Lot 1A, Ana Mendieta, Silueta Works in Mexico, 1973-1977 (12 prints), 1973-1977/1991, estimated at $50000-70000, sold at $277200
Lot 2A, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Untitled (Paris, Last Time, 1989), 1989, estimated at $150000-200000, sold at $504000
The complete lot by lot results can be found here (Rose de la Cruz Collection), here (21st Century Evening), here (20th Century Evening), and here (Post-War & Contemporary Art Day).
