Auction: BRIC, April 14 and 15, 2011 @Phillips London

Coming up later this week in London, Phillips has brought back its BRIC themed sale, featuring varied work from the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India, and China. As you might expect, there are plenty of unfamiliar contemporary names in the mix, and the sale offers Western collectors exposure to work out beyond the edges of the well worn paths we regularly travel. Overall, out of 204 total lots on offer, there are 56 lots of photography available, with a Total High Estimate for photography of £971000.

Here's the statistical breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including £5000): 18
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): £73000

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between £5000 and £25000): 32
Total Mid Estimate: £318000

Total High Lots (high estimate above £25000): 6
Total High Estimate: £580000
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The top lot by High estimate is lot 25, Rashid Rana, Veil IV, 2007, at £250000-300000. (Image at right, bottom, via Phillips.)
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Here is the list of the photographers who are represented by more than one lot in the sale (with the number of lots in parentheses):

Zhang Huan (4)
Boris Mikhailov (3)
Vik Muniz (3)
Wang Qingsong (3)
Cui Xiuwen (2)
Oleg Dou (2)
Gao Brothers (2)
Ma Liuming (2)
Vladislav Mamyshev-Monroe (2)
Qiu Zhijie (2)
Rashid Rana (2)
Marc Riboud (2)
Weng Fen (2)

(Lot 154, Zhang Huan, My Boston 2, 2005, at £6000-8000, image at right, top, and lot 165, Cui Xiuwen, One Day in 2004 No. 4, 2004, at £5000-7000, image at right, middle, both via Phillips.)
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The complete lot by lot catalog can be found here.

BRIC
April 14th/15th
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Phillips De Pury & Company
Howick Place
London SW1P 1BB

Auction Results: Under the Influence, March 8, 2011 @Phillips

The proceeds for the photography in Phillips' Under the Influence sale last week exceeded expectations, covering the high estimate with room to spare. With some help from Barbara Kruger and a low Buy-In rate (under 15%), it was a solid result all around.

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

Total Lots: 55
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: $375000
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: $532500
Total Lots Sold: 47
Total Lots Bought In: 8
Buy In %: 14.55%
Total Sale Proceeds: $654750

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

Low Total Lots: 40
Low Sold: 33
Low Bought In: 7
Buy In %: 17.50%
Total Low Estimate: $215500
Total Low Sold: $238500

Mid Total Lots: 15
Mid Sold: 14
Mid Bought In: 1
Buy In %: 6.67%
Total Mid Estimate: $317000
Total Mid Sold: $416250

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 was lot 143, Vik Muniz, After Mark Rothko (from Pictures of Colors), 2001, at $30000-40000; it sold for $68500. The top outcome of the sale was lot 89, Barbara Kruger, Ohne Titel - Lust, 2001, at $92500.

82.98% 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):

Lot 77, Ryan McGinley, Dash Bombing, New York, 2000, at $20000 (image at right, top, via Phillips)

Lot 84, Katy Grannan, Untitled (from Poughukeepsie Journal), 1999, at $10000

Lot 85, Katy Grannan, Untitled (from Poughkeepsie Journal), 1999, at $11250 (image at right, bottom, via Phillips)

Lot 89, Barbara Kruger, Ohne Titel - Lust, 2001, at $92500

Lot 102, Dionisio Gonzalez, Heliopolis IV, 2006, at $8125

Lot 185, Zhang Huan, Meat and Text (from 1/2 Series), 1998, at $20000 (image at right, middle, via Phillips)

Complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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Phillips De Pury & Company
450 Park Avenue

New York, NY 10022

and

450 West 15th Street

New York, NY 10011

Auctions: Contemporary Art Evening and Day Sales, February 15 and 16, 2011 @Sotheby's London

It's a fresh start for everyone as Sotheby's begins the 2011 auction season for photography with its Contemporary Art Evening and Day sales on the 15th and 16th in London. The top photography lots include work by Sherman, Gursky, Gilbert & George, Sugimoto, and Struth. Overall, there are a total of 28 photo lots available across the two sales, with a Total High Estimate of £2967000.

Here's the usual 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): 12
Total Mid Estimate: £182000

Total High Lots (high estimate above £25000): 16
Total High Estimate: £2785000

The top lot by High estimate is lot 3, Cindy Sherman, Untitled #87, 1981, at £400000-600000. (Image at right, middle, 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):

Hiroshi Sugimoto (4)
Olafur Eliasson (2)
Gilbert & George (2)
Candida Höfer (2)
Vik Muniz (2)
Thomas Struth (2)

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

(Lot 58, Olafur Eliasson, The Waterfall Series, 1996, at £150000-200000, at right, top, and lot 196, Zhang Huan, Skin, 1997, at £30000-40000, at right, bottom, via Sotheby's.)

Contemporary Art Evening
February 15th
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Contemporary Art Day
February 16th
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Sotheby's
34-35 New Bond Street
London W1A 2AA

Book: Zhang Huan, Altered States

JTF (just the facts): Published in 2007 by Edizioni Charta and the Asia Society, in conjunction with an exhibition of the same name at the Asia Society. 180 pages, with essays by Melissa Chiu, Kong Bu, Eleanor Heartney, and Zhang Huan. (Cover shot at right.)

Comments/Context: While Zhang Huan's images can routinely be found in photography auctions around the world today, to call him a photographer would be to grossly misunderstand his art. His photographs are merely documents of his performance art - sometimes further labeled as "body art" or "endurance art", as many of his performances involve testing the limits of his body and mind. This book provides a retrospective look at all of his performances and installations, going back to 1993. Each and every performance is an opportunity to watch from the sidelines as Zhang explores the depths of his own history and personality or reacts to his environment.

Not surprisingly, some of Zhang's performances work better as photographs than others. He has sat covered in flies in a public toilet; he has suspended himself in midair and had some of his blood drained; he has lain naked on blocks of ice; he has worn suits of bone and meat. Two of his earlier projects To Add One Meter to an Anonymous Mountain, 1995 (below ltop) and To Raise the Water Level in a Fishpond, 1997 (below bottom) both lend themselves well to being captured as a single moments. Both works document Zhang measuring himself (with the help of others) against the natural world.

In Foam, 1998 (below left) and Family Tree, 2000 (below right), Zhang tackles the issues of his own personal identity. In one, he holds the photographs of family members in his mouth (is our history inside us, or can we swallow it?); in the other, he disappears under the layers of stories written on his face by Chinese calligraphers.

Most of Zhang's works are subtly infused with traditional Chinese values and Buddhist teachings and these ideas provide the framework and backdrop for his autobiographical explorations. His performances seem to find the just the right balance: surprising without being gimmicky, earnest and stoic without being pompous, real and meaningful without being contrived. Overall, Zhang has generated a significant number of highly memorable and thought provoking moments in his short career; this book provides a valuable one-stop summary of his output.

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Zhang Huan's artist website can be found here.

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Collector's POV: Zhang Huan's images have become mainstays of the auction circuit. Most are large chromogenic prints (often 40x60, but generally in various formats), in edition sizes ranging from perhaps a handful to as many as 25. Prices for single images have ranged from $10000 to over $100000, with larger groups of pictures (like Family Tree) selling for $150000 to $250000. Even though his work is often found in photography auctions, it has clearly crossed over to the "contemporary art" price schedule.
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(Aside: Blogger's handling of embedded images is frustratingly quirky, so please excuse any unexpected odd formatting or white spaces you may encounter, especially likely if you are using a reader.)