Christie's Modern British and Irish Evening Sale Totals $30.8M

A work by Barbara Hepworth, which had a guarantee, was the headline sale at Christie's 'Modern British and Irish Art Evening Sale' on October 21 in London.

• The sale totaled $30.82m (GBP23.09m), meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 31 works sold totaling $30.82m.
• Estimates totaled: $23.45m (low) and $35.72m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 79% of the original 39 lots announced.

The star lot was: Barbara Hepworth, Sculpture with Colour (Eos) (1946), which sold for $8.26m, 23% above its $6.67m low estimate. The work was backed by a guarantee. It has been traded once in the past.

The outperformer sold for 595% above its low estimate. Walter Sickert, The Horses of St Mark's, Venice (1901), sold for $734,600 ($105,700 low estimate). It has been traded 3 times in the past.

• 15 works, or 48%, sold above their high estimate.
• 16 works, or 52%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 0 works, or 0%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Auction records

Euan Uglow's Pyramid (1993) sold for $1.06m, beating the artist’s previous auction record by $118,700, a 12% rise.

Gluck's Chromatic (1932) sold for $666,300, beating the artist’s previous auction record by $374,000, a 125% rise.

Walter Sickert's The Horses of St Mark's, Venice (1901) sold for $734,600, beating the artist’s previous auction record by $30,900, a 4% rise.

Eduardo Paolozzi's 9XSR (1958) sold for $273,300, just beat the artist’s previous auction record by $10,400, a 3% rise.

Guaranteed sales

6 works were backed by guarantees, including: Barbara Hepworth, Figure (Sunion) (1960). It sold for $5.49m, 107% above its $2.64m low estimate. It has been traded twice in the past.

Works that did not sell

5 works were bought-in, including: Henry Moore, Family Group (1947), estimated at $1.98m (low) to $2.64m (high). It has been traded once in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

3 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Frank Bowling, Degaulle G.E.P (1968), estimated at $792,400 (low) to $1.06m (high).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. 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.