Peter Doig Leads Christie's $143m '20th/21st Century: London Evening Sale'

A work by Peter Doig, which had a guarantee, was the headline sale at Christie's '20th/21st Century: London Evening Sale' on October 15 in London.

• The sale totaled $142.6m (£106.9m), meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 55 works sold totaling $142.6m.
• Estimates totaled: $117.9m (low) and $175.5m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 90% of the original 61 lots announced.

The star lot was: Peter Doig, Ski Jacket (1994), which sold for $19.03m, 135% above its $8.09m low estimate. The work was backed by a guarantee. It has been traded once in the past.

The outperformer sold for 377% above its low estimate. Annie Morris, Bronze Stack 9, Copper Blue (2015), sold for $643,700 ($134,800 low estimate). It has been traded once in the past.

• 19 works, or 35%, sold above their high estimate.
• 31 works, or 56%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 5 works, or 9%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

30 works were backed by guarantees, including: Lucian Freud, Self-portrait Fragment (1956). It sold for $10.14m, 4% below its $10.67m low estimate.. It has been traded once in the past.

Auction records

Paula Rego's Dancing Ostriches from Walt Disney's 'Fantasia' (1995) sold for $4.62m, a 23% rise.

Suzanne Valadon's Deux nus ou Le bain (1923) sold for $1.36m, a 175% rise.

Annie Morris’s Bronze Stack 9, Copper Blue (2015) sold for $643,700, a 52% rise.

Esben Weile Kjær's Aske and Johan upside down kissing in Power Play at Kunstforeningen GL STRAND (2020) sold for $33,934, 67% above estimate.

Works that did not sell

5 works were bought-in, including: Yoshitomo Nara, Haze Days (1998), estimated at $8.76m (low) to $11.46m (high). It has been traded 4 times in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

1 work was withdrawn before the sale: Nicolas Party, Tree Trunks (2015) estimated at $1.08m (low) to $1.62m (high).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.