Auction Results: The Inventive Eye: Photographs from a Private Collection, April 1, 2014 @Sotheby’s

As expected, Sotheby’s single owner sale of select vintage material earlier this week performed extremely well. With prints from Weston ($908K), Steichen ($629K), Coburn ($605K), Man Ray ($485K), and Sheeler ($425K) all delivering top dollar prices and an overall Buy-In rate under 13%, it’s not at all surprising that the Total Sale Proceeds bested the top of the estimate range by nearly a million dollars.

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

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 31
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate $2934000
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate $4492000
Total Lots Sold 27
Total Lots Bought In 4
Buy In % 12.90%
Total Sale Proceeds $5414750

Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 3
Total Low Lots Sold 3
Total Low Lots Bought In 0
Low Buy In % 0.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots $24000
Total Proceeds from Low Lots $35000
Mid Total Lots 7
Total Mid Lots Sold 6
Total Mid Lots Bought In 1
Mid Buy In % 14.29%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots $198000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots $384375
Total High Lots 21
Total High Lots Sold 18
Total High Lots Bought In 3
High Buy In % 14.29%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots $4270000
Total Proceeds from High Lots $4995375

The top lot by High estimate was lot 19, Man Ray, Rayograph (with Coil, Handkerchief, and Chain), 1924, estimated at $400000-600000; it sold for $485000. The top outcome of the sale was lot 12, Edward Weston, Shells, 1927, estimated at $300000-500000, sold at $905000 (image above, left, via Sotheby’s).

100.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range, and there were 2 surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 6, Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Paisaje de Equitación, 1952, estimated at $30000-50000, sold at $106250 (image above, right, via Sotheby’s)

Lot 30, Robert Frank, Motorama, Los Angeles, 1956/1960s, estimated at $25000-35000, sold at $185000 (image above, middle, via Sotheby’s).

Complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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Read more about: Edward Weston, Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Robert Frank, Sotheby's

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