Weakness in the middle and high price tiers scuttled the results of the recent Photographs sale at Doyle in New York. Not only did the top lot Andreas Gursky print fail to sell, only two of the next eight highest priced lots found buyers. While a number of positive surprises attempted to lift the numbers a bit, when the dust settled, the Total Sale Proceeds (of just $175K) fell well 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 | 152 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $492200 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $701500 |
| Total Lots Sold | 111 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 41 |
| Buy In % | 26.97% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $175952 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High price range definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 146 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 110 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 36 |
| Low Buy In % | 24.66% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $284500 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $167132 |
| Mid Total Lots | 4 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 1 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 3 |
| Mid Buy In % | 75.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $77000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $8820 |
| Total High Lots | 2 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 0 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 2 |
| High Buy In % | 100.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $340000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $0 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 71, Andreas Gursky, Hyatt Regency Hotel, Atlanta, 1996, estimated at $200000-250000; it did not sell. The top outcome of the sale was lot 97, Robert Mapplethorpe, Philip Glass and Robert Wilson, 1976, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $8820 (image above, via Doyle).
Only 49.55% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 9 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Doyle):
Lot 3, Ansel Adams, Indian Property near Palm Springs, Cal., c1935/1939, estimated $2000-3000, sold at $8190
Lot 34, Preston Butler, Portrait of Lincoln, Springfield, Illinois, August 13, 1860, 1860/c1880, estimated at $600-900, sold at $5985
Lot 63, Gisele Freund, Frida Kahlo avec ses chiens, 1951/later, estimated at $1500-2500, sold at $5670
Lot 74, Cig Harvey, Devin and the Fireflies, Rockland, Maine, 2010, estimated at $500-800, sold at $2394
Lot 78, Graciela Iturbide, Señor de los pájaros/Lord of the birds, Nayarit, 1985, estimated at $500-800, sold at $2394
Lot 98, Vivian Maier, New York, NY, October 29, 1953, 1953/2014, estimated at $800-1200, sold at $3465
Lot 99, Vivian Maier, Self portrait, n.d./2017, estimated at $1000-1500, sold at $4095
Lot 100, Vivian Maier, Chicago, IL, 1954/2014, estimated at $800-1200, sold at $3465
Lot 105, Tina Modotti, Diego Rivera Mural for the Ministry of Education, Mexico City, detail, c1928, estimated at $400-600, sold at $1764
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
