The online portion of the The Ginny Williams Collection sale at Sotheby’s was sold without reserve (the main section results are here), so while the Buy-In rate for photography was zero, that doesn’t tell the whole story of the sale. While more than 40% of the lots that sold did so under their estimate ranges, the top lot Michel Rover work jumped into positive surprise range, helping to push the Total Sale Proceeds for photography to the top end of the aggregate pre-sale range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 31 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $186500 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $275500 |
| Total Lots Sold | 31 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $276500 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 24 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 24 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Low Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $129500 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $123375 |
| Mid Total Lots | 7 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 7 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Mid Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $146000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $153125 |
| 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 photography lot by High estimate was lot 56, Michal Rovner, Border No. 1, 1998, estimated at 30000-40000; it was also the top photography outcome of the sale at $81250 (image above via Sotheby’s.)
Only 58.06% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 4 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Sotheby’s):
Lot 21, Michal Rovner, Outside No. 14, 1991, estimated at $2000-3000, sold at $6875
Lot 55, Lina Bertucci, Diptych, 2001, estimated at $3000-5000, sold at $10625
Lot 56, Michal Rovner, Border No. 1, 1998, estimated at $30000-40000, sold at $81250
Lot 58, Sebastião Salgado, Chinstrap Penguins (Pygoscelis Antarctica), Deception Island, Antarctica (from Genesis), 2005, estimated at $7000-10000, sold at $21250
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
