There was very little photography on offer at Sotheby’s in its recent run of contemporary art sales in London – no lots in the Now Evening auction, 1 lot in the Contemporary Art Evening auction, and 2 lots in the Contemporary Art Day auction. That said, the top lot Barbara Kruger pairing performed well, finding a buyer above its estimate range, and the other lots sold above their estimates too, leading the Total Sale Proceeds for photography (of roughly £1M) to come in above the top end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 3 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | £562000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | £788000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 3 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | £996950 |
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 | 1 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 1 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Mid Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | £18000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | £19050 |
| Total High Lots | 2 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 2 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 0 |
| High Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | £770000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | £977900 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 101, Barbara Kruger, Untitled (Out of your mind) and Untitled (In your face), 1989, estimated at £500000-700000; it was also the top photography outcome of the sales at £889000 (image above, via Sotheby’s).
100.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were no positive surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate).
The complete lot by lot results can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).
