Christie's 20th / 21st Century Evening Sale Totals $152.7m

A work by Henry Moore was the headline sale at Christie's '20th / 21st Century: London Evening Sale' on March 5 in London.

• The sale totaled $152.7m (GBP114.5m), meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 34 works sold totaling $152.7m.
• Estimates totaled: $117.8m (low) and $177.1m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 85% of the original 40 lots announced.

The star lot was: Henry Moore, King and Queen (1952), which sold for $35.13m, 159% above its $13.56m low estimate.

The sale beat the artist’s previous auction record by $2.02m, a 6% rise.

The bronze with a dark green and brown patina work has not been traded before.

The outperformer sold for 311% above its low estimate. Eduardo Chillida, Modulación del espacio III (Modulation of Space III) (1963), sold for $4.46m ($1.08m low estimate). It has been traded twice in the past.

• 11 works, or 32%, sold above their high estimate.
• 22 works, or 65%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 1 works, or 3%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Record sale

Henry Moore's King and Queen (1952) sold for $35.13m, beating the artist’s previous auction record by $2.02m, a 6% rise.

Guaranteed sales

20 works were backed by guarantees, including: Wassily Kandinsky, Le rond rouge (1939). It sold for $16.73m, 17% above its $14.23m low estimate.. It has been traded 6 times in the past.

Works that did not sell

2 works were bought-in, including: Gerald Laing, Beach Wear (1964), estimated at $1.36m (low) to $2.03m (high). It has been traded 3 times in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

4 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Bridget Riley, Arrest 4 (1965), estimated at $4.74m (low) to $7.46m (high).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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.