Auction Results: Contemporary Art, March 9, 2010 @Sotheby's New York

Given the soft performance of Sotheby's post fair week Contemporary Art sale, it appears that collectors must have spent their money in the booths and then went home. With a buy-in rate for photography near 50%, it is no surprise that the total photo proceeds fell under the estimate range, even with a Cindy Sherman film still (at right) pulling in some extra dollars. The mid range lots were particularly weak, with only 12 of 30 in that price zone finding buyers.

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

Total Lots: 49
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: $678500
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: $971000
Total Lots Sold: 25
Total Lots Bought In: 24
Buy In %: 48.98%
Total Sale Proceeds: $583251

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

Low Total Lots: 16
Low Sold: 11
Low Bought In: 5
Buy In %: 31.25%
Total Low Estimate: $113000
Total Low Sold: $68501

Mid Total Lots: 30
Mid Sold: 12
Mid Bought In: 18
Buy In %: 60.00%
Total Mid Estimate: $608000
Total Mid Sold: $252500

High Total Lots: 3
High Sold: 2
High Bought In: 1
Buy In %: 33.33%
Total High Estimate: $250000
Total High Sold: $262250

The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 89, Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #63, 1980, at $80000-120000; it was also the top outcome of the sale at $218500 (image at right top, via Sotheby's).

84.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds above or in the estimate range. There was only one surprise in this sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 100, Andres Serrano, Discobolo (Piss Series), 1988, at $34375

Complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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