Christie’s careful orchestration of its 21st-century evening sale in New York on Thursday paid off, with every lot selling after withdrawals. The auction house was able to farm out risk on a major chunk of the sale, lining up third parties to back 16 lots. At a time when cautious buyers set the tone, it ended up being able to boast about several new auction records, including six for women artists. Read on for the stats that tell the story.
Total Sales After Fees: $106.5 million
Total Sales of Equivalent Auction Last Year: $107 million
Hammer Total: $87.47 million
Top Seller: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled (1982), an oil stick on paper that sold for $22.95 million, a new high for a work on paper by the artist
Lots on Offer: 44
Lots Withdrawn: 2
Lots Sold: 42
Lots Bought In: 0
Sell-through Rate: 95 percent
Sell-through Rate After Withdrawals: 100 percent
Presale Low Estimate: $78 million
Presale Low Estimate After Withdrawals: $74 million
Hammer Total vs. Presale Low Estimate: +$9.47 million
Hammer Total vs. Presale Low Estimate (revised after withdrawals): +$13.47 million
Lots Guaranteed: 24
Lots With House Guarantees: 8
Lots With Third-Party Guarantees: 16
Total Low Estimate of Withdrawn Lots: $3.5 million
Total Low Estimate of Guaranteed Lots: $4.8 million
Total Low Estimate of Third-Party Guaranteed Lots: $32.1 million (43 percent of total presale low estimate)
Quote of the Night: “We’ll go up in 50s,” said auctioneer Georgina Hilton with a laugh as two bidders went head-to-head for Keith Haring’s enamel on aluminum Untitled (Hollywood African Mask), 1987. It was being fought over by two Christie’s specialists on the phones with their clients. Hilton initially seemed reluctant to “split the bid” as its known in auction parlance—taking bids of $50,000, as opposed to the usual $100,000—but then rolled with it. Her patience paid off. The Haring was hammered down for an over-estimate $2.4 hammer, or $3.2 million with fees.
Lasting Memory: Christie’s managed to farm out a huge portion of the sale to third-party guarantors in the lead-up to the sale, a win for the house as it navigates this more cautious and slimmed-down auction atmosphere.
Parting Shot: The buyer’s-market vibe was palpable, with many lots hammering below estimate. And it was sealed at the end of the sale, when, following the final lot, the lone buy-in from the sale, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s Painkiller (2011), was re-offered for $100,000 less than it had been an hour earlier. It sold to the same absentee bidder who had previously bid unsuccessfully.
