The fifth installment of the liquidation of the holdings of the Pier 24 Photography museum took place earlier this week at Sotheby’s, with a no reserve selection of works. On top of the two sales last May that brought in a combined tally of more that $10.6M (here and here), a smaller sale of anonymous imagery this October (here) that added another $85K, and yet another $2M slice of works several weeks later (here), this sale handled some of what was left. Since there were no reserves, the overall Buy-In rate was 0.00%, but nearly half of the lots sold below ... Read more at Collector Daily.

Even with more than a dozen positive surprises, the results from the photographs sale at Swann last week were largely uneventful. The top lot Helmut Newton print found a buyer within its estimate range and the overall Buy-In rate hovered in the mid-thirties, neither strong nor particularly weak. Softness in the higher priced lots ultimately dragged the numbers down a bit, with the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $975K) falling below the low end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.... Read more at Collector Daily.

It was an altogether solid outing for Phillips at its Photographs sale earlier this week in New York. The top two lots both sold above their estimates, only to be topped by another Ansel Adams print. The overall Buy-In rate was a svelte 10% and with more than a dozen positive surprises to juice the numbers, the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $6.4M) came in above the top end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.... 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 news from the sale of the collection of former Microsoft founder Paul Allen last week at Christie’s have been all over the headlines, with the $1.5B of proceeds from the Evening sale alone and the $100M+ outcomes for the paintings by Seurat, Gauguin, Cezanne, Klimt, and Van Gogh garnering most of the attention. But for the photography market, the result for the Edward Steichen 1904 print of the Flatiron building was quite a bit more intriguing. Against an estimate of $2M-3M, the print soared to an outcome of $11.84M, taking second place on the all time list of highest ... Read more at Collector Daily.

This is Part 2 of our summary report on the highlights of Paris Photo 2022. Part 1 of the report (here) explains the format used in the detailed slideshow below, provides some background for the discussion, and covers earlier sections of the fair. So while it is certainly possible to jump directly into any one of these individual reports, if you want or need a bit more context, return to Part 1 as a starting point.... Read more at Collector Daily.

Drawn from the collection of actor Richard Gere, there were more unexpected photographic rarities on offer at this single collector sale at Christie’s last week than in most online sales. A powerhouse František Drtikol nude from 1926 took the top lot honors (at roughly $350K), and with an overall Buy-In rate under 25% and a number of positive surprises, the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly $2.4M) generally met expectations, coming in squarely in the middle of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.... Read more at Collector Daily.

This is Part 3 of our summary report on Paris Photo 2021, focusing on the booths in Section C of the fair. Part 1 of the report (here) explains the format used in the detailed slideshow below, provides some background for the discussion, and covers Section A of the fair. Part 2 (which covers Section B) follows here. It is certainly possible to jump directly into any one of these individual reports, but if you want or need a bit more context, return to Part 1 as a starting point.... Read more at Collector Daily.