Yoshitomo Nara Leads Christie's $14.62m '21st Century Day Sale' in Hong Kong

A work by Yoshitomo Nara was the headline sale at Christie's '21st Century Day Sale' on March 29 in Hong Kong.

• The sale totaled $14.62m (HKD113.8m), meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 62 works sold totaling $14.62m.
• Estimates totaled: $10.79m (low) and $16.52m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 91% of the original 68 lots announced.

The star lot was: Yoshitomo Nara, Mine Detector (1993), which sold for $3.08m, 59% above its $1.93m low estimate. It has been traded once in the past.

The outperformer sold for 377% above its low estimate. Ronald Ventura, Untitled (2011), sold for $61,500 ($12,900 low estimate). It has not been traded before.

• 33 works, or 53%, sold above their high estimate.
• 20 works, or 32%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 9 works, or 15%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

6 works were backed by guarantees, including: Yayoi Kusama, Hat (1981). It sold for $890,300, 11% below its $1m low estimate.. It has been traded twice in the past.

Works that did not sell

6 works were bought-in, including: Damien Hirst, Sarcosine Oxidase (2009), estimated at $257,400 (low) to $514,800 (high). It has been traded once in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

0 works were withdrawn

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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.