Large scale German photography has gone through a soft patch of late, so it was interesting to see an Andreas Gurksy stock exchange image jump back up into view at Sotheby’s recent Contemporary Art auctions in London, with a sale just under £500K. But the other (actually higher estimated) Gursky print also on offer didn’t sell, which dampened the overall results. With just nine lots of photography available across the two sales, a nearly 45% Buy-In rate for photography made the results more susceptible to lumpy swings, and when the dust settled, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography (of roughly £725K) came in 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 | 9 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | £774000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | £1071000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 5 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 4 |
| Buy In % | 44.44% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | £725800 |
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 | 3 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 2 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 1 |
| Mid Buy In % | 33.33% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | £31000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | £60480 |
| Total High Lots | 6 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 3 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 3 |
| High Buy In % | 50.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | £1040000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | £665320 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 144, Andreas Gursky, Pyongyang IV, 2007, estimated at £320000-420000; it did not sell. The top photography outcome of the sales was lot 37, Andreas Gursky, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, 1997, estimated at £200000-300000, sold at £499000 (image above, via Sotheby’s).
100.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were 2 positive surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (image above, via Sotheby’s):
Lot 138, Petra Cortright, DEATHKARZ “australia” and “songlines” and “dreamtime”_ 102.12018, 2018, estimated at £6000-8000, sold at £47880
Lot 191, Gilbert & George, Money and Shit, 1997, estimated at £20000-30000, sold at £126000
The complete lot by lot results can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).
