Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Auction Results: Vintage & Contemporary Photography, April 18, 2009 @Heritage

The Photography sale at Heritage last week in Dallas was brutal evidence of just how soft the lower end of the market can be in this environment, especially when mid range collectors fail to show up for the more expensive lots. In general, the buying was soft all the way down to the $2000 minimum bid level, below which things seemed to sell more readily. More specifically, this is the first time since we have been covering auctions in detail that we have witnessed a complete washout: all 18 of the Mid range lots failed to sell (and there were no High end lots in the sale). 0 for 18 is a drubbing that isn't easily forgotten.

The summary statistics are below:

Total Lots: 293
Pre Sale Total Minimum Price: $648500

Total Lots Sold: 125
Total Lots Bought In: 168
Buy In %: 57.34%
Total Sale Proceeds: $203304

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

Low Total Lots: 275
Low Sold: 125
Low Bought In: 150
Buy In %: 54.55%
Total Low Minimum Price: $476500
Total Low Sold: $203304

Mid Total Lots: 18
Mid Sold: 0
Mid Bought In: 18
Buy In %: 100.00%
Total Mid Minimum Price: $181000
Total Mid Sold: $0

High Total Lots: 0
High Sold: NA
High Bought In: NA
Buy In %: NA
Total High Estimate: NA
Total High Sold: NA

Since we didn't have estimates to tally (given the way Heritage presented the information), we don't have any statistical data on percentages above, in and below the estimate range or on surprise lots. That said, the best outcome of the sale was lot 75028 Pierre Dubreuil, Black Cat Cigarettes, 1930, which sold for $15525 against a minimum bid of $6000.

Complete lot by lot results can be found here. Lots available for post auction purchase can be found here.

Heritage Auction Galleries
3500 Maple Avenue
17th Floor
Dallas, TX 75219

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