Tamara de Lempicka Leads Christie's $105m '20th / 21st Century: London Evening Sale'

A work by Tamara de Lempicka, which had a guarantee, was the headline sale at Christie's '20th / 21st Century: London Evening Sale' on March 5 in London.

• The sale totaled $105.4m (GBP82.18m), meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 44 works sold totaling $105.4m.
• Estimates totaled: $84.57m (low) and $128.2m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 86% of the original 51 lots announced.

The star lot was: Tamara de Lempicka, Portrait du Docteur Boucard (1928), which sold for $8.51m, 35% above its $6.3m low estimate. The work was backed by a guarantee. It has been traded twice in the past.

The outperformer sold for 573% above its low estimate. Danielle Mckinney, Other Worldly (2021), sold for $339,200 ($50,400 low estimate). It has been traded twice in the past.

• 18 works, or 41%, sold above their high estimate.
• 24 works, or 55%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 2 works, or 5%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

24 works were backed by guarantees, including: Francis Bacon, Portrait of Man with Glasses III (1963). It sold for $8.51m, 12% above its $7.56m low estimate.. The work has changed hands over the years, but this was its first time at auction.

Works that did not sell

3 works were bought-in, including: Marc Chagall, Les paysans au puit ou Scène biblique sur fond bleu et vert (1981), estimated at $1.89m (low) to $2.52m (high). It has been traded twice in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

4 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Sigmar Polke, Mondlandschaft mit Schilf (Moonlit Landscape with Reeds) (1969) estimated at $3.78m (low) to $6.3m (high).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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.