Results: Sotheby's Polaroid Photographs

Results are in for the for the Polaroid Collection sale.  The sale was very strong, and results are above the pre sale estimates, at least for session from June 21, which is the only session I have complete data on.  All sessions totaled so far have totaled $11.64 million, and I dont think the final session which started about an hour ago has yet to finish as I write this post.

Session one was estimate to sell for between $2.9 and $4.5 million, it brought $7.2 million, with 100% of the 100 lots selling. That is correct, all of the 100 lots in session one sold.  The estimate for the entire sale was $6.9 to $10.7 million, so session has passed the low estimate for the entire sale.  There are over 300 additional lots from the subsequent sessions. Numerous records were set, along with three session selling on Tuesday.

Sotheby's stated about session one:

Competition was fierce with a full salesroom competing against numerous telephones resulting in as many as ten different bidders vying for certain works. The sale was 100% sold with nearly 87% of the lots achieving prices at or above their estimates. Artist records were set for Ansel Adams and Lucas Samaras, in addition to records for photographs at auction by Chuck Close, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg and David Hockney, among others.

Highlighting the evening session were works by Edwin Land’s great friend and collaborator, Ansel Adams. His iconic mural-sized prints achieved the top five prices of tonight’s offering, led by Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park, which sold for $722,500 after a battle between four different bidders. That price
was well-above the high estimate and a record for the artist at auction (lot 100, est. $300/500,000).

Adams’ Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico sold for $518,500 (lot 94, est. $300/500,000); Aspens, Northern New Mexico was the subject of a battle between a bidder in the room and one over the telephone, finally selling to a client on the phone for $494,500 (lot 88, est. $150/250,000); Winter Sunrise, Sierra Nevada, from Lone Pine, California achieved $482,500 (lot 97, est. $300/500,000); The Tetons and Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming sold for $350,500 (lot 91, est. $250/350,000).