Shirley Jaffe Leads Artcurial $4.22m 'Post-War & Contemporain' Auction in Paris

A work by Shirley Jaffe was the headline sale at Artcurial 'Post-War & Contemporain' auction on June 5 in Paris.

• The sale totaled $4.22m (EUR3.68m), meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 140 works sold totaling $4.22m.
• Estimates totaled: $3.74m (low) and $5.47m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 71% of the original 197 lots announced.

The star lot was: Shirley Jaffe, The Basilica (1994), which sold for $375,800, 448% above its $68,500 low estimate.

The outperformer sold for 558% above its low estimate. Herve Di Rosa, In their rotten digs, they dream of a better world (1984), sold for $60,100 ($9,128 low estimate).

• 85 works, or 61%, sold above their high estimate.
• 52 works, or 37%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 3 works, or 2%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

No sales had a guarantee.

Works that did not sell

55 works were bought-in, including: Georges Mathieu, Clement of Alexandria (1956), estimated at $136,900 (low) to $205,400 (high).

Withdrawn before the sale

2 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Jean Dubuffet, *Site with 5 Figures * (1981) estimated at $148,300 (low) to $205,400 (high).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. Estimates, sale prices and totals are converted into US dollars. 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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.