With an overall Buy-In rate for photography just over 17% and all of the photo lots in the top price tier selling in or above their estimates, the photography in Sotheby’s recent Contemporary Art sales in London performed admirably. A Gerhard Richter multi-part work was the top photo lot, bringing in more than 900K, and a pair of positive surprises from Wolfgang Tillmans helped push the Total Sale Proceeds for photography well above the pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 23 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | £1434000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | £2015000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 19 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 4 |
| Buy In % | 17.39% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | £2600375 |
Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 1 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 0 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 1 |
| Low Buy In % | 100.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | £4000 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | £0 |
| Mid Total Lots | 13 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 10 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 3 |
| Mid Buy In % | 23.08% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | £176000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | £200625 |
| Total High Lots | 9 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 9 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 0 |
| High Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | £1835000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | £2399750 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 133, Gerhard Richter, Cage Grid (Complete Set), 2011, estimated at £600000-800000; it was also the top photographic outcome of the sales at £908750 (image above, via Sothbey’s).
89.47% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 3 positive surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above, via Sotheby’s):
Lot 29, Wolfgang Tillmans, Freischwimmer #81, 2005, estimated at £80000-120000, sold at £500750
Lot 148, Wolfgang Tillmans, Lighter Green/Red III, 2009, estimated at £25000-35000, sold at £81250
Lot 241, The Atlas Group/Walid Raad, Missing Lebanese Wars, 1996-2003, estimated at £8000-12000, sold at £55000
The complete lot by lot results can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).
