Auction Results: Photographs, March 23, 2013 @Heritage Beverly Hills

The results of the various owner Photographs sale at Heritage last week were generally weak. While the overall Buy-In rate was under 20%, 57% of the lots that sold found buyers at prices below the low estimate, likely the result of both lesser known material and a thin bidding base. With that as a backdrop, it shouldn't be a surprise that the Total Sale Proceeds fell under the range.

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

Total Lots: 121
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: $497300
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: $777500
Total Lots Sold: 100
Total Lots Bought In: 21
Buy In %: 17.36%
Total Sale Proceeds: $375457

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

Low Total Lots: 106
Low Sold: 89
Low Bought In: 17
Buy In %: 16.04%
Total Low Estimate: $394500
Total Low Sold: $218894

Mid Total Lots: 14
Mid Sold: 11
Mid Bought In: 3
Buy In %: 21.43%
Total Mid Estimate: $303000
Total Mid Sold: $156563

High Total Lots: 1
High Sold: 0
High Bought In: 1
Buy In %: 100.00%
Total High Estimate: $80000
Total High Sold: $0

The top lot by High estimate is lot 74032, Irving Penn, Picasso, Cannes, 1957/before 1965, estimated at $60000-80000; it did not sell. The top photography outcome of the sale was lot 74084, Ansel Adams, Portfolio V, 1936-1960/1979, estimated at $30000-50000, sold at $43750.

Only 43.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range. There were a total of three surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 74103, Cindy Sherman, Untitled (Lucille Ball), 1975/2001, estimated at $4000-6000, sold at $23750 (image at right, top, via Heritage)
Lot 74111, Robert Mapplethorpe, Lady, Lisa Lyon, 1982, estimated at $600-800, sold at $1625 (image at right, bottom, via Heritage)
Lot 74115, Steven Meisel, Madonna Hitching, 1992/later, estimated at $3000-5000, sold at $10625 (image at right, middle, via Heritage)

Complete lot by lot results can be found here.

Heritage Auctions
9478 W. Olympic Boulevard
Beverly Hills, CA 90212