For much of the past year, in my rounds through gallery shows and art fairs, I have anecdotally heard rumbles about slowing demand for photography, about much of photography being “out” at the moment, and other muted tales of woe, but without looking at the private sales books of gallery owners, it’s difficult to get a feel for just how much of a slowdown was actually occurring, and whether it was driven by broad economic malaise or something more intrinsic to the medium. And as the year passed, in tracking the auction data from sale to sale, I had an ... Read more at Collector Daily.

The photography included in Christie’s recent First Open online sale didn’t deliver much in the way of excitement, but the end of the year mop auctions hardly ever do. The top lot Richard Prince Instagram portrait sold within its estimate, and with a respectable Buy-In rate for photography of 25%, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography (of roughly $250K) came in just below the low end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.... Read more at Collector Daily.

Weakness in the highest priced lots dampened the photography results from the recent Post-War to Present sale at Christie’s. The top lot Andres Gursky print failed to sell, as did pricey lots by John Baldessari and Hiroshi Sugimoto, pushing a group Richard Prince appropriated portraits from the 1980s to the forefront. With no positive surprises to boost the numbers, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography (of just over $830K) came in well below the low end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.... Read more at Collector Daily.

The results for the photography included in the Contemporary sales at Sotheby’s in New York last week were generally underwhelming. After no photo lots in the Now evening sale and two high priced withdrawals before the Contemporary day sale began, the rest of the photography plodded along, with the top lot Richard Prince girlfriend selling below its estimate range. The overall Buy-In rate for photography was a respectable 2o%, but with no positive surprises to build some momentum in the right direction, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography (of roughly $1.7M) came in below the low end of the aggregate pre-sale ... Read more at Collector Daily.

With three photographic outcomes above $1M and three more above $500K, the run of contemporary art sales at Christie’s earlier this week that included the 21st Century Evening and Gerald Fineberg Collection sales proved to be fertile ground for high priced photography. The top photo lot Richard Prince cowboy came in at roughly $1.55M (and within its estimate range), followed by a William Eggleston tricycle (at roughly $1M) and a Diane Arbus portfolio (at roughly $1M). The rest of the photography spread across the various sales performed more or less to expectations. When the dust settled, the overall Buy-In rate ... Read more at Collector Daily.

An invisible psychological ceiling was boldly smashed this past year in the auction market for photography. For the first time, a photograph sold at auction cleared the $10M mark in May, and then the same threshold was breached again by another photograph later in November. The previous auction record for a photograph was well under $5M, so these two outcomes felt altogether unexpected and frame-breaking. And while the two vintage prints in question, the first a 1924 print of Man Ray’s Le Violin d’Ingres and the second a 1905 print of Edward Steichen’s The Flatiron, were undeniably iconic photographic rarities, ... Read more at Collector Daily.

The photography results from the recent Post-War to Present sale at Christie’s in New York were lackluster. The top lot Thomas Struth museum image failed to sell, pushing a pair of Richard Prince Instagram portraits to the forefront. When the dust settled, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography (of just over $200K) came in below the low end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.... Read more at Collector Daily.

The top photography lot Andreas Gursky print failed to sell at the string of contemporary art sales at Sotheby’s in London last week, dampening what was otherwise a solid outing. All of the rest of the photographs on offer found buyers, including a Richard Prince cowboy print with flirted with the £1M mark. With just one positive surprise, the tallied numbers across the sales found the Total Sale Proceeds for photography (of roughly £1.7M) coming in below the low end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.... Read more at Collector Daily.

A solid selection of top tier contemporary photography was available in Sotheby’s Contemporary Art sales in New York sale last week, hitting most of the major names that tend to fetch the highest prices. And while there were no positive surprises or unexpected outcomes, the works on offer generally performed to expectations, including the top lot Richard Prince print of cowboys, which found a buyer within its estimate range. When the dust settled across the two sales, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography (of roughly $3.8M) came in above the low end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.... Read more at Collector Daily.

JTF (just the facts): A group show consisting of photographic and video works by 40 artists, spread across two floors of the museum. The show was organized by David Campany. The following works are included in the show: 2nd Floor Hannah Höch: 14 spread reproductions from Album (Scrapbook), 1933 John Heartfield: 2 photogravures, 1935 (in vitrine) Ernst Friedrich: 1 photobook/spread, 1925 Franz Roh: 1 collage, 1930 Robert Capa: 1 gelatin silver print, 1934-1935 Barbara Morgan: 3 gelatin silver prints, 1938/1972, 1938-39/c1980, 1965/c1980 Walker Evans: 1 digital inkjet print, 1936/2007 Tomoko Sawada: 1 gelatin silver print, 1998 Manuel Álvarez Bravo: 1 ... Read more at Collector Daily.