A serious misjudgment of demand, or of pricing, seems to have occurred at the recent Madonna x Meisel – The SEX Photographs sale last week at Christie’s. More that 60% of the lots (all highly priced) failed to sell, and 75% of those that did sell found buyers below their estimate ranges; almost needless to say, there were no positive surprises. When the dust settled, the Total Sale Proceeds of roughly $1.3M came in at far less than even half of 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 | 42 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $4210000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $6370000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 16 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 26 |
| Buy In % | 61.90% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $1335600 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High 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 | 0 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | NA |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | NA |
| Mid Buy In % | NA |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $0 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $0 |
| Total High Lots | 42 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 16 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 26 |
| High Buy In % | 61.90% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $6370000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $1335600 |
The top lot by High estimate was tied between two lots, both estimated at $250000-350000: lot 8, Steven Meisel, Madonna, New York, 1992, and lot 42, Steven Meisel, Madonna, Miami, 1992; neither lot found a buyer. The top outcome of the sale was lot 4, Steven Meisel, Madonna, New York, 1992, estimated at $80000-120000, sold at $201600 (image above, via Christie’s.)
A paltry 25.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were no positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate).
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
