Christie's Henry S. McNeil Auction Totals $25.89m

A work by Donald Judd, which had a guarantee, was the headline sale at Christie's 'Defined Space: The Collection of Henry S. McNeil, Jr.' auction on May 20 in New York.

• The sale totaled $25.89m, meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Henry "Hank" Slack McNeil Jr. was a Philadelphia-based collector and philanthropist and member of the McNeil family whose fortune was based on Tylenol.

Snapshot of the sale

• 12 works sold totaling $25.89m.
• Estimates totaled: $21.77m (low) and $31.96m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 100%, so a white-glove sale.

The star lot was: Donald Judd, untitled (1969), which sold for $12.82m, 28% above its $10m low estimate. The work was backed by a guarantee. It has been traded 3 times in the past.

The outperformer sold for 958% above its low estimate. Richard Artschwager, Two-Part Invention (1967), sold for $635,000 ($60,000 low estimate). The work was backed by a guarantee. It has been traded 3 times in the past.

• 5 works, or 42%, sold above their high estimate.
• 4 works, or 33%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 3 works, or 25%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

12 works were backed by guarantees, including: Donald Judd, untitled (1972). It sold for $4.47m, 10% below its $5m low estimate.. It has been traded 4 times in the past.

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Withdrawn before the sale

0 works were withdrawn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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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