Richard Avedon Leads Bonhams Skinner $442,000 'Prints & Photographs' Auction

A work by Richard Avedon was the headline sale at Bonhams Skinner 'Prints & Photographs' auction on May 15.

• The sale totaled $442,000, meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 166 works sold totaling $442,000.
• Estimates totaled: $437,300 (low) and $628,000 (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 81% of the original 204 lots announced.

The star lot was: Richard Avedon, Nastassja Kinski and the Serpent, Los Angeles, California, 1981 (1981), which sold for $76,700, 27% above its $60,000 low estimate. It has not been traded before.

The outperformer sold for 1100% above its low estimate. Edward S Curtis, Bear's Belly-Arikara (1908), sold for $6,400 ($500 low estimate).

• 69 works, or 42%, sold above their high estimate.
• 45 works, or 27%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 52 works, or 31%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

No sales had a guarantee.

Works that did not sell

37 works were bought-in, including: David Hockney, Rain, from The Weather Series (1973), estimated at $70,000 (low) to $90,000 (high).

Withdrawn before the sale

1 work was withdrawn before the sale: Timothy H. O'sullivan, Shoshone Falls, 1874 (1981) estimated at $400 (low) to $600 (high).

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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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