Boris Grigoriev Leads Sotheby's, Online $3.17m 'Modern Discoveries' Auction

A work by Boris Grigoriev was the headline sale at Sotheby's, Online 'Modern Discoveries' auction on March 5.

• The sale totaled $3.17m, meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 168 works sold totaling $3.17m.
• Estimates totaled: $3.01m (low) and $4.4m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 77% of the original 218 lots announced.

The star lot was: Boris Grigoriev, Grigoriev Portrait (Undated), which sold for $107,900, 400% above its $20,000 low estimate. It has been traded once in the past.

The outperformer sold for 1100% above its low estimate. Francisco Toledo, *i. Two Rabbits and a Waterpail; ii. Very Similar Couple * (Undated), sold for $8,890 ($700 low estimate). It has not been traded before.

• 69 works, or 41%, sold above their high estimate.
• 62 works, or 37%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 37 works, or 22%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

No sales had a guarantee.

Works that did not sell

42 works were bought-in, including: Gustav Klimt, Viktoria von Vorne (Viktoria from the Front) (1902), estimated at $60,000 (low) to $80,000 (high). It has been traded 3 times in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

8 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Henri Jean Guillaume Martin, Orphée jouant de la lyre (Undated) estimated at $25,000 (low) to $35,000 (high).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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.