3 min read · 11 Oct 2024
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 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
No sales had a guarantee.
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.
0 works were withdrawn
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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.