Yves Klein Leads Christie's $8.54m 'Helga and Edzard Reuter Collection' White-Glove Sale in Paris

A work by Yves Klein was the headline sale at Christie's 'Collection Helga et Edzard Reuter' auction on May 28 in Paris.

• The sale totaled $8.54m (EUR7.55m), exceeding the pre-sale high estimate.

The son of the mayor of Berlin during the city's blockade by Soviet forces, Edzard Reuter (1928-2024), became the president of Daimler-Benz. Proceeds of the sale go to the Berlin-based Helga and Edzard Reuter Foundation.

Snapshot of the sale

• 49 works sold totaling $8.54m.
• Estimates totaled: $3.67m (low) and $5.39m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 100%, so a white-glove sale.

The star lot was: Yves Klein, Relief Planetaire Terre (Marseille, Aix), (RP 24) (1961), which sold for $1.82m, 167% above its $682,400 low estimate. It has been traded 5 times in the past.

The outperformer sold for 839% above its low estimate. Almir da Silva Mavignier, braun, schwarz, grün auf blau (1959), sold for $106,900 ($11,400 low estimate). It has not been traded before.

• 42 works, or 86%, sold above their high estimate.
• 5 works, or 10%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 2 works, or 4%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

No sales had a guarantee.

Works that did not sell

0 works were bought-in.

Withdrawn before the sale

0 works were withdrawn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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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