Auctions: Contemporary Art Evening and Day Sales, June 27 and 28, 2013 @Phillips London

Phillips completes the early summer Contemporary Art season in London tomorrow with a predictable selection of recent photography. Sherman, Sugimoto, Gilbert & George, and Ruff make up the top lots. Overall, there are a total of 32 lots of photography available across the two sales, with a Total High Estimate for photography of £1528000.

Here's the statistical breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including £5000): 0
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): NA

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between £5000 and £25000): 16
Total Mid Estimate: £258000

Total High Lots (high estimate above £25000): 16
Total High Estimate: £1270000

The top lot by High estimate is lot 6, Cindy Sherman, Untitled #426, 2004, at £200000-300000. (Image at right, top, via Phillips.)

Here is the short list of the photographers who are represented by more than one lot in the two sales (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Cindy Sherman (3)
David LaChapelle (2)
Richard Prince (2)
Thomas Ruff (2)

Other lots of interest include lot 167, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, 1999, at £120000-180000 (image at right, middle), and lot 189, Richard Prince, All the Best, 2000, at £35000-45000 (image at right, bottom, both via Phillips).

The complete lot by lot catalogs can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).

Contemporary Art Evening Sale
June 27th

Contemporary Art Day Sale
June 28th

Phillips
Howick Place
London SW1P 1BB

Auctions: Contemporary Art, Evening and Day Sales, May 14 and 15, 2013 @Sotheby's New York

Sotheby's is up first in next week's Contemporary Art sales in New York, with Evening and Day sales on Tuesday and Wednesday. There are plenty of high end photographs on offer, led by a Koons duratran lightbox with a big estimate ($2500000-3500000). The rest of the top lots (Prince, Sherman, Gursky, Wall et al) are mostly usual suspects. Overall, there are a total of 53 lots of photography on offer, with an impressive Total High Estimate for photography of $10018000.

Here's the statistical breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including $10000): 0
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): $0

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between $10000 and $50000): 22
Total Mid Estimate: $618000

Total High Lots (high estimate above $50000): 31
Total High Estimate: $9400000

The top photography lot by High estimate is lot 9, Jeff Koons, The New Jeff Koons, 1980, estimated at $2500000-3500000 (image at right, top, via Sotheby's).

Here's the list of photographers represented by three or more lots in the two sales (with the number of lots in parentheses):

David LaChapelle (4)
Vik Muniz (4)
Richard Prince (4)
Hiroshi Sugimoto (3)

Other photographs of interest include lot 57, Richard Prince, Untitled (Cowboy), 2001, estimated at $800000-1200000 (image at right, middle, via Sotheby's) and lot 504, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Chrysler Building, 1997, estimated at $200000-300000 (image at right, bottom, via Sotheby's.)

The complete lot by lot catalogs can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).

Contemporary Art (Evening)
May 14th

Contemporary Art (Day)
May 15th

Sotheby's
1334 York Avenue
New York, NY 10021

Auctions: Contemporary Art and Design Evening and Under the Influence, March 7 and 8, 2013 @Phillips New York

For its Armory week offerings, Phillips has paired an Evening sale with its broader, more eclectic Under the Influence sale. The vast majority of the photography available can be found in the Under the Influence auction on Friday, with a liberal sprinkling of mid range works by both bold faced and lesser known names to be uncovered there. All in, there are a total of 86 lots of photography available across the two sessions, with a total High estimate for photography of $2002000.

Here's the statistical breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including $10000): 31
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): $232000

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between $10000 and $50000): 46
Total Mid Estimate: $1040000

Total High Lots (high estimate above $50000): 9
Total High Estimate: $730000

The top photography lot by High estimate is lot 21, Richard Prince, Untitled (Massage), 1980-1981, estimated at $100000-150000 (image at right, top, via Phillips).

Here's the list of photographers represented by two or more lots in the sales (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Andy Warhol (4)
Slater Bradley (3)
Nan Goldin (3)
Marilyn Minter (3)
Vik Muniz (3)
Doug Aitken (2)
Sophie Calle (2)
Roland Fischer (2)
Anthony Goicolea (2)
Andreas Gursky (2)
Paul McCarthy (2)
Shirin Neshat (2 )
Eleonore Nitzschke (2)
Richard Prince (2)
Thomas Ruff (2)
Cindy Sherman (2)
Stephen Shore (2)
Spencer Tunick (2)

Other works of interest include lot 184, Doug Aitken, Cul de Sac, 2004, estimated at $60000-80000 (image at right, middle) and lot 25, Louise Lawler, Going, 2001/2002, estimated at $50000-70000 (image at right, bottom, all via Phillips.)

The complete lot by lot catalogs can be found here (Contemporary Art and Design) and here (Under the Influence).

Contemporary Art and Design Evening
March 7th

Under the Influence
March 8th

Phillips
450 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10022

Auctions: Contemporary Art Evening and Day Auctions, February 12 and 13, 2013 @Sotheby's London

Sotheby's kicks off the 2013 Spring Contemporary Art season with Evening and Day sales next week in London. The top photography lots include works by Gursky, Prince, and Gilbert & George. Overall, there are a total of 34 photography lots available across the two sales, with a Total High Estimate of £1901000.

Here's the statistical breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including £5000): 0
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): NA

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between £5000 and £25000): 21
Total Mid Estimate: £321000

Total High Lots (high estimate above £25000): 13
Total High Estimate: £1580000

The top lot by High estimate is lot 37, Andreas Gursky, Singapore Börse, 1997, at £350000-550000. (Image at right, top, via Sotheby's.)

Here is a list of the photographers who are represented by more than one lot in the two sales (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Candida Höfer (3)
Thomas Ruff (3)
Gilbert & George (2)
Andreas Gursky (2)
David LaChapelle (2)
Cindy Sherman (2)

Other lots of interest include lot 294, Richard Prince, Untitled (Pens), 1979, at £120000-180000 (at right, middle) and lot 228, Olafur Eliasson, 360° Crystal Palace, 2007, at £60000-80000 (at right, bottom, both images via Sotheby's).

The complete lot by lot catalogs can be found here (Evening) and here (Day).

Contemporary Art Evening
February 12th

Contemporary Art Day
February 13th

Sotheby's
34-35 New Bond Street
London W1A 2AA

Top 10 Photography Lots at Auction in 2010

According to our statistics on 71 different auctions around the world in 2010 (covering both focused Photography sales and the photography buried in Contemporary Art and other compilation sales), these were the top 10 photography lots in terms of overall selling price this year. Unlike last year, when no works crossed the $1 million dollar mark in public secondary market transactions, 8 out of the top 10 lots this year broke that threshold (3 actually crossed $2 million dollars). Our top lot last year (Gilbert & George, The Moon, 1978), would have been good for a tie for 10th place this year (last year's list can be found here).

While some might persuasively argue that certain artists do not fall under the label of "photography", all of the works that have been included in this list are made up of photographic prints. Prices all include the buyer's premium and have been converted to dollars/rounded to the nearest dollar where appropriate (1 Euro = 1.31 Dollars; 1 Pound = 1.55 Dollars, both exchange rates slightly lower than last year; varying quality reproductions via the respective houses).
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1.) $2770500: Lot 14, Cindy Sherman, Untitled #153, 1985, at Phillips de Pury & Company, Carte Blanche, November 8th

2.) $2098500: Lot 8, Andreas Gursky, Frankfurt, 2007, at Sotheby's, Contemporary Art, November 9th

3.) $2060338: Lot 6, Andreas Gursky, Pyongyang IV, 2007, at Sotheby's, Contemporary Art, October 15th

4.) $1669738: Lot 72, Andreas Gursky, Madonna I, 2001, at Sotheby's, Contemporary Art, February 10th

5.) $1426500: Lot 19, Cindy Sherman, Untitled #420, 2004, at Phillips de Pury & Company, Carte Blanche, November 8th

5.) $1426500: Lot 58, Cindy Sherman, Untitled (#88), 1981, at Christie's, Post-War and Contemporary Art, November 10th

7.) $1101710: Lot 16, Richard Avedon, Dovima with elephants, Evening dress by Dior, Cirque D'Hiver, Paris, August 1955, 1955/1978, at Christie's, Photographies provenant de la Fondation Richard Avedon, November 20th

8.) $1082500: Lot 122, Edward Weston, Nautilus, 1927, at Sotheby's, Photographs, April 13th

9.) $962500: Lot 17, Thomas Schütte, Old Friends, 1993, at Phillips de Pury & Company, Carte Blanche, November 8th

10.) $902500: Lot 113, Richard Prince, Untitled (Cowboy), 1998-1999, at Phillips de Pury & Company, Contemporary Art, November 8th

10.) $902500: Lot 8, Andreas Gursky, Chicago Board of Trade, 1997, at Christie's, Collection of Michael Crichton, May 11th
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While we cover most of the major auctions, it is entirely possible (though not hugely likely) that a photograph could have sold outside our coverage area, in a smaller house or in a secondary market location (especially in the 19th century realm), but could still have reached the top 10 in terms of overall price. So please, if we've missed something somewhere, by all means, add it in the comments.

Auctions: Carte Blanche and Contemporary Art, Parts I and II, November 8 and 9, 2010 @Phillips

Phillips kicks off the Fall Contemporary Art season in New York next week, with the Carte Blanche sale (curated by Philippe Segalot) and a two-part various owner sale. The big news photography-wise is the sale of Cindy Sherman's Untitled #153, with a jaw-dropping estimate of $2-3 million; in an edition of 6, it is the last print still in public hands (the rest are in museum collections I believe), so the bidding will likely be fierce. If that wasn't enough, there is also a Richard Prince cowboy in this set of sales, with a hefty estimate of $1-1.5 million. All in, there are a total of 88 lots of photography available across the three sales, with a total High estimate for photography of $7804500.

Here's the statistical breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including $10000): 29

Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): $194500

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between $10000 and $50000): 46

Total Mid Estimate: $1100000

Total High Lots (high estimate above $50000): 13

Total High Estimate: $6510000

The top photography lot by High estimate is lot 14, Cindy Sherman, Untitled #153, 1985, at $2000000-3000000. (Image at right, top, via Phillips.) The next highest lot by High estimate is lot 113, Richard Prince, Untitled (Cowboy), 1998-1999, at $1000000-1500000. (Image at right, bottom, via Phillips.)

Here's the list of photographers represented by three or more lots in the sales (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Gabriel Orozco (5)

Thomas Ruff (4)

Hiroshi Sugimoto (4)

Gregory Crewdson (3)

Marilyn Minter (3)

Vik Muniz (3)

Richard Prince (3)

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The complete lot by lot catalogs can be found here (Carte Blanche), here (Part I) and here (Part II).

Carte Blanche

November 8th

Contemporary Art, Part I

November 8th

Contemporary Art, Part II

November 9th

Phillips De Pury & Company

450 Park Avenue

New York, NY 10022

and

450 West 15th Street

New York, NY 10011

Auction Results: Post-War and Contemporary Art, Including Works from the Collection of Michael Crichton, May 11 and 12, 2010 @Christie's

When both of the million dollar photo lots pass, but somehow the total sale proceeds for photography can still fall within the estimate range, I think it says something about how broad based the demand in the market has become. This is exactly what occurred at Christie's earlier this week - both the Wall and the Prince bought in, but the rest of the sale picked up the slack, with an overall buy-in rate of less than 10%. The evening portion of the Crichton Collection sale was white glove, with the Gursky (at right) and another Prince (below) both selling above their estimates.

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

Total Lots: 44
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: $4521000
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: $6684000
Total Lots Sold: 40
Total Lots Bought In: 4
Buy In %: 9.09%
Total Sale Proceeds: $5514600

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

Low Total Lots: 1
Low Sold: 1
Low Bought In: 0
Buy In %: 00.00%
Total Low Estimate: $3000
Total Low Sold: $2750

Mid Total Lots: 22
Mid Sold: 20
Mid Bought In: 2
Buy In %: 9.09%
Total Mid Estimate: $621000

Total Mid Sold: $873350

High Total Lots: 21
High Sold: 19
High Bought In: 2
Buy In %: 9.52%
Total High Estimate: $6060000

Total High Sold: $4638500

The two top photography lots by High estimate were lot 69, Richard Prince, Untitled (Cowboy), 1999, and lot 73, Jeff Wall, Adrian Walker, artist, drawing from a specimen in the Dept. of Anatomy at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, 1992, both at $800000-1200000; neither of these lots sold. The top outcome of the series of sales was lot 8, Andreas Gursky, Chicago Board of Trade, 1997, at $902500. (Image at right, top, via Christie's.)

95.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range. There were a total of 6 surprises in this sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):
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Lot 26, Richard Prince, Untitled (Cowboy), 2003, at $602500 (image at right, via Christie's)

Lot 145, Charles Ray, Untitled, 1973, at $158500

Lot 147, Tom Friedman, Untitled, 1996, at $27500

Lot 487, Cindy Sherman, Untitled #102, at $146500

Lot 493, Mike Kelley, Nostalgic Description of the Innocence of Childhood, 1990, at $62500

Lot 494, Mike Kelley, Manipulating Mass-Produced Idealized Objects, 1990, at $86500

Lot 560, Vik Muniz, The Reader after Fragonard from Pictures of Chocolate, 2002, at $84100

Complete lot by lot results can be found here (Crichton), here (Evening), here (Morning) and here (Afternoon).

Christie's
20 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10020

Auctions: Post-War and Contemporary Art, Including Works from the Collection of Michael Crichton, May 11 and 12, 2010 @Christie's

Christie's begins the main Spring Contemporary Art season in New York next week with two days of single collection and various owner sales. There is plenty of top tier art on offer, including works from the collection of author Michael Crichton. In terms of photography, it's a mixed bag, with a handful of high priced works (Prince, Wall, Gursky), some usual suspects, and some more random inclusions. There are a total of 44 lots of photography available in these sales, with a total High estimate for photography of $6684000.

Here's the simple statistical breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including $10000): 1
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): $3000

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between $10000 and $50000): 22
Total Mid Estimate: $621000

Total High Lots (high estimate above $50000): 21
Total High Estimate: $6060000

There are two lots that are tied for the top photography lot by High estimate. They are: lot 69, Richard Prince, Untitled (Cowboy), 1999, (image at right, top) and lot 73, Jeff Wall, Adrian Walker, artist, drawing from a specimen in the Dept. of Anatomy at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, 1992, (image at right) both at $800000-1200000. We've only had two photo lots cross the million dollar threshold this year, so if both of these perform well (and/or the Gursky outperforms), that total will rise.

Here's the complete list of photographers represented by two or more lots in the sales (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Hiroshi Sugimoto (6)
Vik Muniz (5)
Cindy Sherman (5)
Mike Kelley (3)

Richard Prince (3)

Jeff Wall (3)

Gregory Crewdson (2)

Tom Friedman (2)

Thomas Ruff (2)

The complete lot by lot catalogs can be found here (Evening), here (Crichton), and here (Morning/Afternoon). The eCatalogues are here (Evening), here (Crichton), and here (Morning/Afternoon).

Post-War and Contemporary Art, Including Works from the Collection of Michael Crichton
May 11th and 12th

Christie's
20 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10020