Jean-Michel Basquiat Leads Christie's $96.46m '21st Century Evening Sale' in New York

A work by Jean-Michel Basquiat, which had a guarantee, was the headline sale at Christie's '21st Century Evening Sale' on May 14 in New York.

• The sale totaled $96.46m, meeting the pre-sale estimate.

The comparable sale at Christie's New York in May 2024 totaled $80.26m.

Snapshot of the sale

• 36 works sold totaling $96.46m.
• Estimates totaled: $82.88m (low) and $122.1m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 84% of the original 43 lots announced.

The star lot was: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Baby Boom (1982), which sold for $23.41m, 17% above its $20m low estimate. The work was backed by a guarantee. It has been traded 5 times in the past.

The outperformer sold for 315% above its low estimate. Danielle Mckinney, The Fool (2021), sold for $207,900 ($50,000 low estimate). It has been traded twice in the past.

• 16 works, or 44%, sold above their high estimate.
• 18 works, or 50%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 2 works, or 6%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

27 works were backed by guarantees, including: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Baby Boom (1982). It sold for $23.41m, 17% above its $20m low estimate. It has been traded 5 times in the past.

Record sales

2 works set auction records, including Marlene Dumas' Miss January (1997) sold for $13.63m, a new auction record for Dumas and for a living female artist. The work went to a guarantor.

Works that did not sell

3 works were bought-in, including: Ellsworth Kelly, Gray Panel II (1978), estimated at $2m (low) to $3m (high). It has been traded twice in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

4 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Christopher Wool, Untitled (1988) estimated at $3.5m (low) to $5.5m (high).

Talking point

Christie's auctioneer Yu-Ge Wang conducted the bidding, which was slow at times, with aplomb.

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.