Christie's First Open | Post-War & Contemporary Art Auction Totals $4.53m

A work by Cy Twombly was the headline sale at Christie's 'First Open | Post-War & Contemporary Art, featuring Drawings from the Collection of the Late Janie C. Lee, Sold for the Benefit of the Menil Drawing Institute' auction on February 17-27 in New York.

• The sale totaled $4.53m, exceeding the pre-sale high estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 127 works sold totaling $4.53m.
• Estimates totaled: $2.86m (low) and $4.27m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 84% of the original 152 lots announced.

The star lot was: Cy Twombly, Untitled (1971), which sold for $762,000, 154% above its $300,000 low estimate. It has been traded once in the past.

The outperformer sold for 1297% above its low estimate. Myron Stout, #1 Drawing; #2 Drawing (1968), sold for $69,800 ($5,000 low estimate). It has been traded once in the past.

• 59 works, or 46%, sold above their high estimate.
• 39 works, or 31%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 29 works, or 23%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

3 works were backed by guarantees, including: Jennifer Allora & Guillermo Calzadilla, Under Discussion (2005). It sold for $16,500, 17% below its $20,000 low estimate.. It has been traded once in the past.

Works that did not sell

24 works were bought-in, including: Henri Matisse, Interior with Large Bay Window, the artist's hand in the foreground on the left (1941), estimated at $50,000 (low) to $70,000 (high). It has been traded twice in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

1 work was withdrawn before the sale: Kiki Smith, Nests (1997) estimated at $30,000 (low) to $50,000 (high).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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.