Auction: Photographs, May 7, 2013 @Bonhams New York

Bonhams has a various owner Photographs sale coming up next week in New York, with a broad selection of mostly lower priced 20th century black and white works. Overall, there are 135 photographs on offer, with a total High estimate of $1204500.

Here's the statistical breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including $10000): 113
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): $633500

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between $10000 and $50000): 20
Total Mid Estimate: $396000

Total High Lots (high estimate above $50000): 2
Total High Estimate: $175000

The top lot by High estimate is lot 27, Edward Weston, Fiftieth Anniversary Portfolio, 1902-1952, c1952, estimated at $60000-90000.

Below is the list of photographers represented by 4 or more lots in the sale (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Ansel Adams (11)
Ruth Bernhard (8)
Sebastiao Salgado (8)
Manuel Alvarez Bravo (6)
Brett Weston (5)
Harry Callahan (4)
Robert Doisneau (4)
Andre Kertesz (4)
O. Winston Link (4)

Other items of interest include lot 107, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Chapel of Notre Dame du Haut, 1998, estimated at $65000-85000 (image at right, top, via Bonhams), lot 109 John Coplans, Self-Portrait (Front Hand III), 1987, estimated at $5000-7000 (image at right, middle, via Bonhams), and lot 105, Garry Winogrand, Park Avenue, 1959/late 1970s, estimated at $20000-30000 (image at right, bottom, via Bonhams).

The complete lot by lot catalog can be found here.

Photographs
May 7th

Bonhams
580 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10022

Auction Results: Crossing America: Photographs from the Consolidated Freightways Collection, Part I, April 7, 2011 @Christie's

The sale of Part I of the Consolidated Freightways corporate collection at Christie's last week was an all-around success, with better than expected performance at all price points. The overall Buy-In rate was under 15%, there were plenty of positive surprises, and the Total Sale Proceeds covered the High estimate by more than $400K. Once again, all of the top 10 lots found buyers.

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

Total Lots: 130
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: $973000
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: $1404000
Total Lots Sold: 111
Total Lots Bought In: 19
Buy In %: 14.62%
Total Sale Proceeds: $1838438
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Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post, here):

Low Total Lots: 100

Low Sold: 84

Low Bought In: 16

Buy In %: 16.00%

Total Low Estimate: $630000

Total Low Sold: $659188

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Mid Total Lots: 28

Mid Sold: 25

Mid Bought In: 3

Buy In %: 10.71%

Total Mid Estimate: $614000

Total Mid Sold: $910250

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High Total Lots: 2

High Sold: 2

High Bought In: 0

Buy In %: 0.00%

Total High Estimate: $160000
Total High Sold: $269000

The top lot by High estimate was lot 293, Robert Mapplethorpe, Flag, 1987, at $70000-90000; it was also the top outcome of the sale at $158500.
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77.48% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range, and there were a total of 14 surprises in this sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 201, Ansel Adams, Coastal Road, c1953, at $23750

Lot 203, Robert Adams, Golden, Colorado, c1974, at $18750

Lot 216, Garry Winogrand, Untitled, 1960, at $40000 (image at right, top, via Christie's)

Lot 218, William Garnett, Train Crossing Desert, Kelso, CA, 1974, at $32500

Lot 219, William Garnett, Waterhole on the Santa Fe Trail with Cattle Tracks, New Mexico, 1975, at $11250 (image at right, middle, via Christie's)

Lot 224, Robert Adams, Lakewood, 1973, at $18750

Lot 244, David Hockney, Merced River, Yosemite Valley, September 1982, 1982, at $40000 (image at right, bottom, via Christie's)

Lot 251, Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, 1936, at $134500

Lot 253, Russell Lee, Oil field worker drinking water, Kilgore, Texas, April 1939, 1939, at $13750
Lot 261, Ben Shahn, Men with Hats, Listening, 1934, at $15000

Lot 262, Weegee, Coney Island, 1940/1950s, at $32500

Lot 294, Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #55, 1980, at $134500
Lot 317, Marion Post Wolcott, Migrant Vegetable Pickers Waiting in Line to be Paid near Homestead, Florida, 1939, at $12500

Lot 319, Garry Winogrand, World's Fair, New York City, 1964/Later, at $23750

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Complete lot by lot results can be found here.

Christie's

20 Rockefeller Plaza

New York, NY 10020

Auction Results: Signature Vintage & Contemporary Photography Auction, December 3, 2010 @Heritage New York

While Heritage was able to draw more consignment dollars to its recent photography sale than ever before, the auction house continues to suffer from poor outcomes. With more than 60% of the lots that sold selling below their estimate ranges and a Buy-In rate over 30%, it is no wonder the Total Sale Proceeds missed the estimate range by a wide margin.

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

Total Lots: 196
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: $616650
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: $916800
Total Lots Sold: 132
Total Lots Bought In: 64
Buy In %: 32.65%
Total Sale Proceeds: $411281

Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post, here):
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Low Total Lots: 187
Low Sold: 124
Low Bought In: 63
Buy In %: 33.69%
Total Low Estimate: $714300
Total Low Sold: $288494
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Mid Total Lots: 9
Mid Sold: 8
Mid Bought In: 1
Buy In %: 11.11%
Total Mid Estimate: $202500
Total Mid Sold: $122786

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

The top lot by High estimate is lot 74040, Ansel Adams, Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941/1978, at $30000-50000; it was also the top outcome of the sale at $35850.

A troubling 62.88% of the lots that sold had proceeds below their estimate. There were a total of three surprises in this sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):

Lot 74068, Garry Winogrand, JFK, Democratic National Convention, Los Angeles, 1960/1983, at $2629 (image at right, bottom via Heritage)
Lot 74133 Michael Kenna, Gondolas I, Venice, Italy, 1980/1981, at $4780 (image at right, middle, via Heritage)
Lot 74138, Ray Metzker, 86 GB-6, Colorado, from Earthly Delights, 1986, at $3346 (image at right, top, via Heritage)
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Complete lot by lot results can be found here.

Heritage Auctions
The Fletcher-Sinclair Mansion
2 East 79th Street
New York, NY 10075

Garry Winogrand, Women Are Beautiful @Richardson

JTF (just the facts): A total of 13 black and white images, framed in black and matted, and hung in the small project room space near the back of the gallery. The black bordered gelatin silver prints are 11x14 or reverse, and were printed in 1981, in editions of 80. (Installation shots at right.)

Comments/Context: One of the things I admire most about the Yancey Richardson Gallery is that the exhibition program consistently pairs vintage and contemporary works (using the main and project spaces) in smart ways; it is one of the few galleries in New York that effectively uses vintage work to provide a deeper and more rounded context for its primary contemporary offerings.

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This small show of a selection of Garry Winogrand's images from Women Are Beautiful is a terrific example of a clever pairing. Most collectors will be extremely familiar with this body of Winogrand's work, but the pictures take on a markedly different feel when juxtaposed with Alex Prager's staged portraits (review here). Winogrand's casual images of attractive 1970s women on street corners, at parties, at the beach or in the park were heavily criticized when they were first published; many found them too voyeuristic or exploitative, the "male gaze" gone overboard. When placed next to Prager's new works, two surprisingly divergent views of women emerge: Prager's retro world feels hemmed in, the women trapped and closed off, left listless and bored by their roles; Winogrand's women have a lively sense of confident freedom, open and loose, unperturbed by the man with the camera.

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Overall, when hung in contrast, the Winogrand images do an excellent job of highlighting the crux of Prager's work; the overtly staged "women as actresses" concept is strongly enhanced by a look to these well known pictures from the past. While this show doesn't merit a detour on its own, it certainly creates a thoughful dialogue with the works in the adjacent gallery.

Collector's POV: The prints in this small show are priced at $3600 each, including the frame. Prints from this series are routinely available in the secondary markets, ranging in price from $1000 to $6000. The entire portfolio includes 85 prints.

Rating: * (one star) GOOD (rating system described here)

Transit Hub:

• Current Exhibition: Tampa Museum of Art, 2010 (here)
• Feature: American Suburb X (here)

Garry Winogrand, Women Are Beautiful

Through February 20th

Yancey Richardson Gallery

535 West 22nd Street

New York, NY 10011