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Ansel Adams Leads Bonhams $604,700 'Photographs' Auction

3 min read  ·  11 Oct 2024

Portfolio Three (Yosemite Valley) by Ansel Adams sold for $64,000.
Image courtesy of Bonhams

Portfolio Three (Yosemite Valley) by Ansel Adams sold for $64,000. Image courtesy of Bonhams

A work by Ansel Adams was the headline sale at Bonhams 'Photographs' auction on October 10.

  • The sale totaled $604,700, falling short of its pre-sale low estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

  • 63 works sold totaling $604,700.
  • Estimates totaled: $758,000 (low) and $1.13m (high), excluding premiums.
  • The sell-through rate was 53% of the original 119 lots announced.

The star lot was: Ansel Adams, Portfolio Three (Yosemite Valley) (1960), which sold for $64,000, 28% above its $50,000 low estimate. It has been traded twice in the past.

The outperformer sold for 582% above its low estimate. Baron Adolf de Meyer, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, c. 1916 (1916), sold for $20,500 ($3,000 low estimate). It has been traded once in the past.

Breakdown of results against auction house estimates that are disclosed

Breakdown of results against auction house estimates that are disclosed

  • 18 works, or 29%, sold above their high estimate.
  • 31 works, or 49%, sold within their low and high estimate.
  • 14 works, or 22%, sold below their low estimate.
  • 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

No sales had a guarantee.

Works that did not sell

56 works were bought-in, including: Marina Abramovic, Balkan Erotic Epic: Women Massaging Breasts (2005), estimated at $30,000 (low) to $50,000 (high). It has been traded once in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

0 works were withdrawn

Terms and definitions

All results include the fees and premiums added to the price of a work of art when the auctioneer's hammer falls. Sale prices are compared to the auction house’s low estimate, which do not include premiums.

Guarantees: Sometimes an auction house guarantees to pay a seller for a work, regardless of whether the bidding reaches the reserve price, a figure that is typically confidential.

Bought-in: If there are no bids for a work, or if bidding falls short of the reserve price, the lot is unsold or “bought-in”.

Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.

Premiums: Typically a sliding-scale of charges paid in addition to the hammer price by the buyer, plus any other fees.