Sotheby's opens the 2010 Contemporary Art auction season with a pair of sales in London in early February. A renewed sense of optimism must be in the air, as photography
consignors have brought nearly 40% more high estimate dollars to the table this season over the sales a year ago. There are a total of 33 photography lots on offer across the two sales, with a Total High Estimate of £2680000, driven significantly by a single
Gursky depicting Madonna in concert (the only photograph in the Evening session); otherwise, the material is predominantly a gathering of the usual contemporary photography suspects. (Catalog covers at right, via
Sotheby's.)
Here's the breakdown:
Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including £5000): 1
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): £3000
Total Mid Lots (high estimate between £5000 and £25000): 17
Total Mid Estimate: £247000
Total High Lots (high estimate above £25000): 15
Total High Estimate: £2430000
The top lot by High estimate is lot 72, Andreas Gursky, Madonna I, 2001, at £900000-1300000. Since there were no lots that topped $1 million dollars in 2009, if this lot sells, it will easily be the most expensive photograph to sell at auction in over a year.
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Here is a short list of the photographers who are represented by more than one lot in the sale (with the number of lots in parentheses):
Hiroshi Sugimoto (5)
Douglas Gordon (3)
Florian Maier-Aichen (3)
John Baldessari (2)
Candida Höfer (2)
Sarah Lucas (2)
Richard Prince (2)
Thomas Struth (2)
The complete lot by lot catalogs can be found
here (Evening) and
here (Day).
February 10th
February 11th
34-35 New Bond Street
London W1A 2AA
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