Auction: Under the Influence, April 11, 2013 @Phillips London

Phillips' Under the Influence sale tomorrow in London has a selection of mid range photographs worth a quick look. Overall, there are a total of 41 lots of photography available in the sale, with a Total High Estimate for photography of £318000.

Here's the statistical breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including £5000): 11
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): £51000

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between £5000 and £25000): 30
Total Mid Estimate: £267000

Total High Lots (high estimate above £25000): 0
Total High Estimate: NA

The top photography lot by High estimate is lot 122, Jitish Kallat, Cenotaph (A Deed of Transfer), 2007, at £18000-25000. (Image at right, top, via Phillips.)

Here is the short list of the photographers who are represented by three or more lots in the sale (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Kim Joon (3)
Vik Muniz (3)
Youssef Nabil (3)

Other lots of interest include lot 39, Dash Snow, Untitled (Hell), 2005, at £4000-6000 (image at right, middle), and lot 126, Youssef Nabil, Not Afraid to Love, Paris, 2005, at £10000-15000 (image at right, bottom, both via Phillips).

The complete lot by lot catalog can be found here.

Under the Influence
April 11th

Phillips
Howick Place
London SW1P 1BB

Auction Results: Contemporary Art Evening and Day Sales, June 29 and 30, 2010 @Phillips London

The media narrative around the results of Phillips' Contemporary Art sales in London last week has centered on weakness in the market (via Art Market Monitor here and here), but the photography buried in the pair of sales performed, for the most part, in line with expectations. Most of the top photo lots found buyers in their estimate ranges. The overall Buy-In rate was somewhat soft (at just over 32%) and the Total Sale Proceeds fell just below the bottom of the estimate range, but in general, it wasn't too far from "normal", given a mixed bag of material, a lack of superior/standout lots, and a summertime sale date.

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

Total Lots: 46
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: £853000
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: £1208000
Total Lots Sold: 31
Total Lots Bought In: 15
Buy In %: 32.61%
Total Sale Proceeds: £836125

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

Low Total Lots: 4
Low Sold: 2
Low Bought In: 2
Buy In %: 50.00%
Total Low Estimate: £17000
Total Low Sold: £5500

Mid Total Lots: 25
Mid Sold: 16
Mid Bought In: 9
Buy In %: 36.00%
Total Mid Estimate: £356000
Total Mid Sold: £205875

High Total Lots: 17
High Sold: 13
High Bought In: 4
Buy In %: 23.53%
Total High Estimate: £835000
Total High Sold: £624750

The top lot by High estimate was lot 21, Gilbert & George, Damned Buddleia, 1980, at £150000-200000; it was also the top outcome of the sale at £169250.

90.32% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above their estimate. There was only one surprise in these sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 181, Dash Snow, Untitled, 2007, at £63650 (image at right, top, via Phillips)

Complete lot by lot results can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).

Phillips De Pury & Company
Howick Place
London SW1P 1BB