Claude Monet Leads Christie's $217m '20th Century Evening Sale' in New York

A work by Claude Monet, which had a guarantee, was the headline sale at Christie's '20th Century Evening Sale' on May 12 in New York.

• The sale totaled $217m, meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 35 works sold totaling $217m.
• Estimates totaled: $159.3m (low) and $225.6m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 95% of the original 37 lots announced.

The star lot was: Claude Monet, Peupliers au bord de l’Epte, crépuscule (1891), which sold for $42.96m, 43% above its $30m low estimate. The work was backed by a guarantee. It has been traded 3 times in the past.

The outperformer sold for 231% above its low estimate. Frank Stella, Firuzabad III (1970), sold for $3.32m ($1m low estimate). It has been traded 3 times in the past.

• 14 works, or 41%, sold above their high estimate.
• 17 works, or 50%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 3 works, or 9%, sold below their low estimate.
• 1 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

21 works were backed by guarantees, including: Claude Monet, Peupliers au bord de l’Epte, crépuscule (1891). It sold for $42.96m, 43% above its $30m low estimate.. It has been traded 3 times in the past.

Auction record

Dorothea Tanning, Endgame (1944), sold for $2.35m, a new auction record for the female Surrealist artist.

Works that did not sell

0 works were bought-in.

Withdrawn before the sale

2 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Andy Warhol, Big Electric Chair (1967) estimated at $30m (low) to $30m (high).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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.