Christie's Contemporary Edition Totals $2.76m

A work by David Hockney was the headline sale at Christie's 'Contemporary Edition featuring: Behind the Stars, Five Decades of Derriere L'Etoile Studios' auction on July 1-16 in New York.

• The sale totaled $2.76m, exceeding the pre-sale high estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 254 works sold totaling $2.76m.
• Estimates totaled: $1.62m (low) and $2.43m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 95% of the original 266 lots announced.

The star lot was: David Hockney, The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011 (twenty eleven) - 1 January 2011 (2011), which sold for $444,500, 122% above its $200,000 low estimate.

The outperformer sold for 1424% above its low estimate. Alice Neel, Olivia and the Red Hat (1982), sold for $30,500 ($2,000 low estimate).

• 129 works, or 51%, sold above their high estimate.
• 54 works, or 21%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 71 works, or 28%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

1 work was backed by a guarantee: Various Artists, Artists for Obama (2012). It sold for $25,400, 111% above its $12,000 low estimate.

Works that did not sell

11 works were bought-in, including: Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe (Marilyn): one print (1967), estimated at $120,000 (low) to $180,000 (high).

Withdrawn before the sale

1 work was withdrawn before the sale: Roy Lichtenstein, Real Estate (1969), estimated at $10,000 (low) to $15,000 (high).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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.