Bonhams 20th and 21st Century Art Evening Sale Totals $6.17m
3 min read · 16 Oct 2026
Ka 4 by Bridget Riley sold for $1.21m. Image courtesy of Bonhams
A work by Bridget Riley was the headline sale at Bonhams '20th and 21st Century Art Evening Sale' on October 15-15 in London.
- The sale totaled $6.17m (GBP4.65m), meeting the pre-sale estimate.
Snapshot of the sale
- 16 works sold totaling $6.17m.
- Estimates totaled: $4.46m (low) and $6.39m (high), excluding premiums.
- The sell-through rate was 80% of the original 20 lots announced.
The star lot was: Bridget Riley, Ka 4 (1980), which sold for $1.21m, 66% above its $728,600 low estimate. It has been traded 5 times in the past.
Cataract Hotel Aswan by David Hockney sold for $475,500 (412% above estimate). Image courtesy of Bonhams
The outperformer sold for 412% above its low estimate. David Hockney, Cataract Hotel Aswan (1978), sold for $475,500 ($92,700 low estimate). It has been traded 3 times in the past.
- 8 works, or 50%, sold above their high estimate.
- 8 works, or 50%, 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
4 works were bought-in, including: Banksy, Laugh Now (2001), estimated at $529,900 (low) to $794,800 (high). It has not been traded before.
Withdrawn before the sale
0 works were withdrawn
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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.
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