Auction Results: SEX, March 19, 2010 @Phillips London

Phillips' second themed sale of 2010 took place last week, and the results were remarkably similar to the first, albeit slightly improved due to a larger than usual group of surprises. Several of the top photo lots once again failed to find buyers, leading the total sale proceeds for photography to come in a bit below the estimate range.

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

Total Lots: 137
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: £455100
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: £672500
Total Lots Sold: 96
Total Lots Bought In: 41
Buy In %: 29.93%
Total Sale Proceeds: £443066

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

Low Total Lots: 110
Low Sold: 78
Low Bought In: 32
Buy In %: 29.09%
Total Low Estimate: £264500
Total Low Sold: £214066

Mid Total Lots: 21
Mid Sold: 17
Mid Bought In: 4
Buy In %: 19.05%
Total Mid Estimate: £183000
Total Mid Sold: £199000

High Total Lots: 6
High Sold: 1
High Bought In: 5
Buy In %: 83.33%
Total High Estimate: £225000
Total High Sold: £30000

The top lot by High estimate was lot 124, Pierre et Gilles, Tiger, 2007, at £40000-60000; it did not sell. The top outcome of the sale was lot 118, Jenny Saville and Glen Luchford, Closed Contract #10, 1995-96, at £67250. (Image at right, via Phillips.)

92.71% of the lots that sold had proceeds above or in the estimate range. There were a total of fifteen surprises in this sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 32, Michael Dweck, Sonya, Poles, Montauk, New York, 2002, at £5250
Lot 44, Daido Moriyama, How to Create a Beautiful Picture 6: Tights in Shimotakaido, 1987, at £16250
Lot 57, Nobuyoshi Araki, Untitled, n.d., at £1625
Lot 62, Nobuyoshi Araki, Yakusa, 1994, at £20000
Lot 81, Gilbert & George, Self Portrait, 1998, at £688
Lot 98, Pierre Moliner, Autopotrait au loup et a la rose, c1967, at £2500
Lot 99, Pierre Moliner, Autoportrait au fetiche, c1967, at £2750
Lot 100, Pierre Moliner, Autoportrait au masque et au bas, c1967, at £2625
Lot 101, Pierre Moliner, Autoportrait au Tabouret, c1967, at £2500
Lot 118, Jenny Saville and Glen Luchford, Closed Contract #10, 1995-96, at £67250
Lot 136, Willy Camden, SEX, 2006, at £5625
Lot 174, Spencer Tunick, Aletsch Glacier, Switzerland, 2007, at £4750
Lot 178, Stephane Graf, Chair Construction, 1991, at £9375
Lot 191, David Seymour, Prostitute near the Krupp works, West Germany, Essen, 1947, at £5250
Lot 200, Yasmina Alaoui and Marco Guerra, Dream #8, 2005, at £15000

Complete lot by lot results can be found here.

Phillips De Pury & Company
Howick Place
London SW1P 1BB