Auction Results: Photographs, May 20, 2010 @Bonhams London

The results of the recent Photographs sale at Bonhams in London were generally muted, with a buy-in rate over 40% and total sale proceeds that missed the estimate range by a decent margin. In an otherwise uneventful sale, André Villers' images of Picasso all sold above their High estimates.

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

Total Lots: 137
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: £304500
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: £490400
Total Lots Sold: 81
Total Lots Bought In: 56
Buy In %: 40.88%
Total Sale Proceeds: £241320

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

Low Total Lots: 109
Low Sold: 68
Low Bought In: 41
Buy In %: 37.61%
Total Low Estimate: £219400
Total Low Sold: £150120

Mid Total Lots: 27
Mid Sold: 13
Mid Bought In: 14
Buy In %: 51.85%
Total Mid Estimate: £236000
Total Mid Sold: £91200

High Total Lots: 1
High Sold: 0
High Bought In: 1
Buy In %: 100.00%
Total High Estimate: £35000
Total High Sold: £0

The top lot by High estimate was lot 125, Thomas Ruff, Porträt (V. Liebermann), 1998, at £25000-35000; it did not sell. The top outcome of the sale was tied between lot 47, André Villers, Picasso Popeye, Cannes, 1957/1989, and lot 137, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Satellite Tower City, 2002, both at £12600.

78.57% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above their estimate. There were a total of 7 surprises in this sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 10, Grace Robertson, On the Caterpillar, London Women's Pub Outing (Clapham), 1956/Later, at £1920
Lot 18, Thurston Hopkins, Keeping Warm, Islington, London, 1950/Later, at £3600
Lot 25, Wolfgang Suschitzky, Charing Cross Road from No. 84 (Marks and Co.), 1937/Later, at £1920
Lot 26, Wolfgang Suschitzky, Embankment, London, 1947/Later, at £1920
Lot 46, André Villers, Picasso, Cannes, 1958/1989, at £3120
Lot 47, André Villers, Picasso Popeye, Cannes, 1957/1989, at £12600
Lot 48, André Villers, Picasso with revolver and hat of Gary Cooper, 1958/1989, at £7200 (image at right, top, via Bonhams)

Complete lot by lot results can be found here.

Bonhams
101 New Bond Street
London W1S 1SR