Georgia O'Keeffe Leads Bonhams $11.88m '20th/21st Century Art Evening Sale' in New York

A work by Georgia O'Keeffe was the headline sale at Bonhams '20th/21st Century Art Evening Sale' on November 20 in New York.

• The sale totaled $11.88m, falling short of its pre-sale low estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 16 works sold totaling $11.88m.
• Estimates totaled: $16.64m (low) and $25.12m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 62% of the original 26 lots announced.

The star lot was: Georgia O'Keeffe, White Primrose (1947), which sold for $4.42m, 10% above its $4m low estimate. It has been traded 8 times in the past.

The outperformer sold for 764% above its low estimate. Gertrude Abercrombie, Silo at Aledo (1953), sold for $864,100 ($100,000 low estimate). It has been traded once in the past.

• 4 works, or 25%, sold above their high estimate.
• 12 works, or 75%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 0 works, or 0%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

No sales had a guarantee.

Works that did not sell

9 works were bought-in, including: Norman Rockwell, A Scout is Loyal (1940), estimated at $3m (low) to $5m (high). It has been traded 5 times in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

1 work was withdrawn before the sale: Fernand Leger, Deux femmes tenant des fleurs (1954) estimated at $1.5m (low) to $2m (high).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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.