The Vicente Wolf collection sales at Christie’s in New York last week contained a trove of 20th century European avant-garde photography, with a splash of iconic American work added in here and there. The results were generally solid, with a 1930s Constructivist collage by Alexander Rodchenko and Varvara Stepanova taking the top lot honors. Modest reserves in some cases dampened the outcomes a bit, but the overall Buy-In rate across the two sales steadied at just over 27%. A handful of positive surprises helped the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $1.83M) to edge up near 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 | 192 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $1861600 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $2717000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 140 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 52 |
| Buy In % | 27.08% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $1833600 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 134 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 106 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 28 |
| Low Buy In % | 20.90% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $682000 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $346880 |
| Mid Total Lots | 50 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 27 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 23 |
| Mid Buy In % | 46.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $1105000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $538880 |
| Total High Lots | 8 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 7 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 1 |
| High Buy In % | 12.50% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $930000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $947840 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 11, Alexander Rodchenko and Varvara Stepanova, ‘Bud Gotov’, 1934, estimated at $200000-300000; it was also the top outcome of the sales at $230400 (image above, via Christie’s.)
Just 52.86% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 6 positive surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Christie’s):
Lot 15, Constantin Brâncuși, Study of Danaïde of 1913, c1920s, estimated at $60000-80000, sold at $179200
Lot 65, J. Pascal Sébah, Pyramid of Chephren (Khafre), Egypt, c1890s, estimated at $100-200, sold at $640
Lot 85, George Platt Lynes, Walter Rockmer, c1941, estimated at $4000-6000, sold at $12160
Lot 125, Gertrud Arndt, Otti Berger in the empty canteen on the last day before the Bauhaus shutdown in Dessau, Germany, 1932, estimated at $1000-2000, sold at $17920
Lot 129, Eleanor Parke Custis, Colombia Idyll, c1943, estimated at $1000-2000, sold at $4864
Lot 185, Bahman Jalali, Image of Imagination 2, 2003, estimated at $2000-3000, sold at $20480
The complete lot by lot results can be found here (The Vicente Wolf Photography Collection) and here (The Vicente Wolf Photography Collection Online).
