Auction Results: Photographs, April 5, 2013 @Christie's New York

Christie's various owner Photographs sale blew past its pre-sale aggregate High estimate, bringing in an extra $700K in proceeds for good measure. To complete the broad-based success, the overall Buy-In rate was low (just over 15%) and there were lots of positive surprises.

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

Total Lots: 204
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: $4303000
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: $6512000
Total Lots Sold: 172
Total Lots Bought In: 32
Buy In %: 15.69%
Total Sale Proceeds: $7245375

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

Low Total Lots: 43
Low Sold: 35
Low Bought In: 8
Buy In %: 18.60%
Total Low Estimate: $333000
Total Low Sold: $343250


Mid Total Lots: 140
Mid Sold: 119
Mid Bought In: 21
Buy In %: 15.00%
Total Mid Estimate: $3169000
Total Mid Sold: $3094625

High Total Lots: 21
High Sold: 18
High Bought In: 3
Buy In %: 14.29%
Total High Estimate: $3010000
Total High Sold: $3807500

The top lot by High estimate was lot 251, Robert Frank, Trolley-New Orleans, 1955, estimated at $400000-600000; it was also the top outcome of the sale at $663750

93.02% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range. There were a total of 18 surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 104, Hiroshi Sugimoto, UA Playhouse, Great Neck, NY, 1978, estimated at $20000-30000, sold at $62500
Lot 105, Lewis Baltz, Corona del Mar, 1971, estimated at $10000-15000, sold at $30000
Lot 113, Peter Beard, Orphaned Cheetahs, Kenya, from The End of the Game, 1968/later, estimated at $40000-60000, sold at $183750
Lot 114, Irving Penn, Ginko Leaves, New York, 1990/1992, estimated at $80000-120000, sold at $363750 (image at right, middle, via Christie's)
Lot 115, Ansel Adams, Aspens, Northern New Mexico, 1958/1958-1962, estimated at $100000-150000, sold at $423750 (image at right, top, via Christie's)
Lot 126, William Klein, Atom Bomb Sky, New York, 1955/later, estimated at $7000-9000, sold at $20000
Lot 133, Steve McCurry, Afghan Girl, 1984/later, estimated at $4000-6000, sold at $17500
Lot 136, Erwin Blumenfeld, Dictator, Paris, 1937/1940s, estimated at $30000-50000, sold at $111750
Lot 157, Minor White, Two Barns, Dansville, New York, 1955, estimated at $8000-12000, sold at $25000
Lot 165, Edward Weston, Mexico (Tina on the Azotea), 1924, estimated at $100000-150000, sold at $363750
Lot 175, Francesca Woodman, Untitled, Rome, 1977-1978, estimated at $15000-25000, sold at $117750 (image at right, bottom, via Christie's)
Lot 176, Francesca Woodman, Untitled, Providence, RI, 1975-1978, estimated at $20000-30000, sold at $105750
Lot 191, Helmut Newton, Charlotte Rampling, Portrait, Arles, France, 1973/1982, estimated at $20000-30000, sold at $68750
Lot 209, Edward Weston, Charis, 1934, estimated at $8000-12000, sold at $27500
Lot 229, W. Tom Young, Bill with Camera, New Orleans, 1987, estimated at $3000-5000, sold at $12500
Lot 247, William Eggleston, Untitled (Memphis), 1971/1999, estimated at $80000-120000, sold at $279750
Lot 268, Nan Goldin, Cookie at Tin Pan Alley, NYC, 1983, estimated at $4000-6000, sold at $22500
Lot 303, Ansel Adams, Ice on Ellery Lake, Sierra Nevada, California, 1959/1979, estimated at $7000-9000, sold at $25000

Complete lot by lot results can be found here.

Christie's
20 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10020