There were no photography lots included in the two evening sales at Christie’s in London/Paris last week, and the gathering of photographs available in the adjacent Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale in London the next day struggled a bit to find its footing. The two highest priced photo lots (from Anselm Kiefer and Wolfgang Tillmans) failed to sell, and while a Gerhard Richter overpainted photograph jumped well above its estimate range, it couldn’t carry the load all on its own, leading to Total Sales Proceeds for photography (of roughly £250K) that came in just 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 | 10 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | £265000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | £385000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 7 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 3 |
| Buy In % | 30.00% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | £254016 |
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 | 7 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 6 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 1 |
| Mid Buy In % | 14.29% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | £160000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | £206136 |
| Total High Lots | 3 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 1 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 2 |
| High Buy In % | 66.67% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | £225000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | £47880 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 722, Anselm Kiefer, Winter ade scheiden tut weh aber dein Scheiden macht dass mein Herz lacht (Goodbye, Winter, Parting Hurts But Your Departure Makes My Heart Laugh), 2010, estimated at £70000-100000; it did not sell. The top photography outcome of the sales was lot 639, Gerhard Richter, Untitled, 2003, estimated at £25000-35000, sold at £113400 (image above, via Christie’s).
85.71% of the photo lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there was just 1 positive surprise in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (image above, via Christie’s):
Lot 639, Gerhard Richter, Untitled, 2003, estimated at £25000-35000, sold at £113400
Complete lot by lot results can be found here.
