Auction Results: Photographs, May 21, 2010 @Christie's South Kensington

The results of the recent Photographs sale at Christie's in London were surprisingly strong, with all 44 lots from the Norman Hall collection finding buyers (many at unexpectedly high prices) and several Irving Penns jumping well above their estimates. Overall, the buy-in rate was low (just over 10%) and the total sale proceeds covered the total High estimate with plenty of room to spare.

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

Total Lots: 111
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: £552900
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: £797500
Total Lots Sold: 98
Total Lots Bought In: 13
Buy In %: 11.71%
Total Sale Proceeds: £966013

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

Low Total Lots: 67
Low Sold: 58
Low Bought In: 9
Buy In %: 13.43%
Total Low Estimate: £173500
Total Low Sold: £198688

Mid Total Lots: 37
Mid Sold: 35
Mid Bought In: 2
Buy In %: 5.41%
Total Mid Estimate: £404000
Total Mid Sold: £571700

High Total Lots: 7
High Sold: 5
High Bought In: 2
Buy In %: 28.57%
Total High Estimate: £220000
Total High Sold: £195625

The top lot by High estimate was lot 47, Gustave Le Gray, View across the Nile, 1867, at £30000-40000; it sold for £51650. The top outcome of the sale was lot 59, Irving Penn, Pompier, Paris, 1950/1967 at £87650. (Image at right, top, via Christie's.)

86.73% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above their estimate. There were 19 surprises in this sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 1, Jean-Philippe Charbonnier, Casino de Paris, 1960, at £2375
Lot 2, Robert Doisneau, Hommages Respectueux, Concert Mayol, Paris, 1952, at £3750
Lot 5, Brassaï, Self-Portrait, c1955, at £8125
Lot 7, Willy Ronis, Self-Portrait, 1951, at £7500
Lot 21, Guido Mangold, Jacqueline Kennedy, 1963, at £4375
Lot 22, Aart Klein, Urban landscapes 1-3, c1960, at £4625
Lot 25, Bill Brandt, Nude, London, 1953, at £6000
Lot 30, Cecil Beaton, Lady Aberconway's cat, Antonia, Bodnat, 1950, at £2250
Lot 31, Cecil Beaton, Basket maker, Corsica, c1938, at £2125
Lot 35, David Chim Seymour, Spanish Civil War, Extremadura, 1936, at £2500
Lot 36, Werner Bischof, Meiji Jingu, 1951, at £4000
Lot 37, Jean-Philippe Charbonnier, Kuwait, 1955, at £3000
Lot 38, Ara Güler, Erdine, Turkey, 1956, at £4375 (image at right, via Christie's)
Lot 40, Brett Weston, Self-portrait, 1956, at £5625
Lot 59, Irving Penn, Pompier, Paris, 1950/1967, at £87650
Lot 60, Irving Penn, Workman, London, 1950/1970, at £43250
Lot 65, Irving Penn, Nude 151, 1945-1950/1976, at £13750

Lot 67, Helmut Newton, Sumo, 1999, at £6250

Lot 69, Helmut Newton, Self-portrait with wife and models, 1981/1984, at £20000

Complete lot by lot results can be found here.

Christie's
85 Old Brompton Road
London SW7 3LD