Auction Results: The Eric Cohler Collection: Photographs, February 8, 2023 @Bonhams (online)

The results from the recent single collector sale of photographs at Bonhams in New York last week weren’t hugely noteworthy. The top lot honors went to a Peter Beard work (within its estimate range), the overall Buy-In rate came in near 35%, and there were a handful of largely lower priced positive surprises. When the online timers were all expired, the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $305K) came in 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 186
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $371000
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $565000
Total Lots Sold 121
Total Lots Bought In 65
Buy In % 34.95%
Total Sale Proceeds $304704

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

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 181
Total Low Lots Sold 119
Total Low Lots Bought In 62
Low Buy In % 34.25%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots $470000
Total Proceeds from Low Lots $270144
Mid Total Lots 5
Total Mid Lots Sold 2
Total Mid Lots Bought In 3
Mid Buy In % 60.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $95000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $34560
Total High Lots 0
Total High Lots Sold NA
Total High Lots Bought In NA
High Buy In % NA
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $0
Total Proceeds from High Lots $0

The top lot by High estimate was tied between two lots, each estimated at $15000-25000: lot 319, Chris Levine, Lightness of Being, 2004, and lot 339, Peter Beard, Loliondo Lion Charge, 1964/later; the Levine print did not sell, while the Beard work was the top outcome of the sale at $20480 (images above, via Bonhams.)

78.51% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 6 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (image above, via Bonhams):

Lot 321, Harry Benson, Kate (Kate Moss, Paris), 1993/2014, estimated at $2000-3000, sold at $8960

Lot 341, Walker Evans, Head (Plaster Reproduction), Ife, British Nigeria, Yoruba, Profile View, 1935, estimated at $1000-1500, sold at $3072

Lot 354, Rudy Burckhardt, Willem de Kooning (Loft on West 22nd Street, New York), 1937/later, estimated at $1000-1500, sold at $4608

Lot 368, James Welling, Glass House 0463, 2009, estimated at $1000-1500, sold at $3840

Lot 378, George Platt Lynes, Male Nude Leaning, c1950, estimated at $1000-1500, sold at $4608

Lot 395, Elliott Erwitt, Honfleur, France, 1968/1990s, estimated at $1500-2500, sold at $5376

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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Read more about: Elliott Erwitt, Frederick Evans, George Platt Lynes, Harry Benson, James Welling, Peter Beard, Rudy Burckhardt, Bonhams

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