The photographs on offer in the recent 20th Century & Contemporary Art sales at Phillips in London performed solidly. A Wolfgang Tillmans abstraction pushed an Andreas Gursky print aside for the top lot honors, and with a Buy-In rate for photography of less than 18%, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography came in at £2.8M, above 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 | 29 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | £2435000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | £3547000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 24 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 5 |
| Buy In % | 17.24% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | £2843625 |
Here is the breakdown (using our usual Low, Mid, and High price tier definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 0 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | NA |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | NA |
| Low Buy In % | NA |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | £0 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | £0 |
| Mid Total Lots | 12 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 11 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 1 |
| Mid Buy In % | 8.33% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | £147000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | £158375 |
| Total High Lots | 17 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 13 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 4 |
| High Buy In % | 23.53% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | £3400000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | £2685250 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 26, Andreas Gursky, Klitschko, 1999, estimated at £500000-700000; it sold at £399000. The top photography outcome of the sales was lot 42, Wolfgang Tillmans, Freischwimmer 99, 2004, estimated at £250000-350000, sold at £435000 (image above, via Phillips).
83.33% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there was 1 positive surprise in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (image above, via Phillips):
Lot 43, Cory Arcangel, Photoshop CS: 110 by 72 inches, 300 DPI, RGB, square pixels, default gradient “Spectrum,” mousedown y=31100 x=1500, mouse up y=32850 x=800, 2008, estimated at £100000-150000, sold at £325000
The complete lot by lot results can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).
