While the big Gursky didn’t sell, Christie’s was still able to tally the largest photography proceeds in the Contemporary Art sales in London last week. While the overall Buy-In rate was similar to that of Phillips the day before (just over 31%), the top end lots were pretty soft in these two sales. With the absence of the income from the Gursky, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography missed the estimate range by a wide margin; if the Gursky had sold for its low estimate, the results would have fallen just below the range.

The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):

Total Lots: 45
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: £2156000
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: £2986000
Total Lots Sold: 31
Total Lots Bought In: 14
Buy In %: 31.11%
Total Sale Proceeds: £1229225

Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post, here):

Low Total Lots: 0
Low Sold: NA
Low Bought In: NA
Buy In %: NA
Total Low Estimate: £0
Total Low Sold: NA

Mid Total Lots: 21
Mid Sold: 14
Mid Bought In: 7
Buy In %: 33.33%
Total Mid Estimate: £286000
Total Mid Sold: £218875

High Total Lots: 24
High Sold: 17
High Bought In: 7
Buy In %: 29.17%
Total High Estimate: £2700000
Total High Sold: £1010350

The top lot by High estimate was lot 47, Andreas Gursky, Pyongyang II, 2007, at £900000-1200000; it did not sell. The top outcome of the sale was lot 177, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Kattegat, Kullaberg, 1996, at £205250.

A perfect 100.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above their estimate. There were a total of three surprises in these sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 317, Mike Kelley, Nostalgic Depiction of the Innocence of Childhood, 1990, at £37250
Lot 384, Inez Van Lamsweerde, Kate Moss, Bride, 2003, at £21250 (image at right, top, via Christie’s)
Lot 387, Andres Serrano, Black Jesus, 1990, at £73250

Complete lot by lot results can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).

Christie’s
8 King Street, St. James’s
London SW1Y 6QT