Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Auction Results Fall 2008: Bloomsbury and Swann

Sales at Bloomsbury and Swann (last Friday and yesterday respectively) continued this year's New York auction season. Both sales had a significant percentage of lower end material, which had performed decently well in the previous sales at Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips, despite the economic downturn. The results are below.

Bloomsbury Inaugural Photographs Sale

Total Lots: 145
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: $1767200
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: $2588800

Total Lots Sold: 75
Total Lots Bought In: 70
Buy In %: 48.28%
Total Sale Proceeds: $710760

These numbers are a bit skewed, given that the big trophy lot (the five volume 19th century Russian set) didn't sell, thereby zeroing out a major portion of the estimated proceeds. Given the combination of Bloomsbury's new entry into the marketplace and the financial crisis, I think you can call this sale a lukewarm success; they sold a bunch of lots, tested all their infrastructure, and established themselves as credible. The bar will be much higher next season.

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

Low Total Lots: 118
Low Sold: 59
Low Bought In: 59
Buy In %: 50.00%
Total Low Estimate: $733800
Total Low Sold: $309360

Mid Total Lots: 24
Mid Sold: 15
Mid Bought In: 9
Buy In %: 37.50%
Total Mid Estimate: $515000
Total Mid Sold: $299400

High Total Lots: 3
High Sold: 1
High Bought In: 2
Buy In %: 66.67%
Total High Estimate: $1340000
Total High Sold: $102000

As an aside, we had hoped to sneak off with the tasty Lewis Baltz image from the New Industrial Parks series (one of the best from that series we have seen at auction in several years), assuming we might be able to get a bargain, given it was Bloomsbury's first NY sale. No such luck. We were trounced, as the lot estimated $6000-8000 went for $12600 (including premium). It was one of only four lots in the entire sale to go above its high estimate.

Swann Galleries Important 19th & 20th Century Photographs

Total Lots: 390
Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: $1815300
Pre Sale High Total Estimate: $2659900

Total Lots Sold: 257
Total Lots Bought In: 133
Buy In %: 34.10%
Total Sale Proceeds: $1462921

This was a solid, workmanlike performance for Swann. The range of material was broad, the buy-in percentage was respectable, and the total proceeds were decently close to the pre sale low estimate, despite the challenging external conditions.

Here's the breakdown (again using definitions from the preview post, here)

Low Total Lots: 346
Low Sold: 226
Low Bought In: 120
Buy In %: 34.68%
Total Low Estimate: $1732900
Total Low Sold: $930731

Mid Total Lots: 43
Mid Sold: 30
Mid Bought In: 13
Buy In %: 30.23%
Total Mid Estimate: $867000
Total Mid Sold: $488990

High Total Lots: 1
High Sold: 1
High Bought In: 0
Buy In %: 0.00%
Total High Estimate: $60000
Total High Sold: $43200

This sale was remarkably consistent across all categories, likely a result of generally less volatile material (price-wise).

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