Christie’s Vanthournout Collection Evening Sale Totals $53.87m

A work by Pablo Picasso was the headline sale at Christie's 'Modern Visionaries - The Roger and Josette Vanthournout Collection - Evening Sale' on March 5 in London.

• The sale totaled $53.87m (GBP40.32m), meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 30 works sold totaling $53.87m.
• Estimates totaled: $38.29m (low) and $58.67m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 97% of the original 31 lots announced.

The star lot was: Pablo Picasso, Nu debout et femmes assises (1939), which sold for $9.36m, 128% above its $4.09m low estimate. It has been traded 4 times in the past.

The outperformer sold for 696% above its low estimate. Man Ray, La prière (The prayer) (Undated), sold for $543,000 ($68,200 low estimate). It has been traded once in the past.

• 14 works, or 47%, sold above their high estimate.
• 11 works, or 37%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 5 works, or 17%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

1 work was backed by a guarantee: Lynn Chadwick, Stranger III (1959). It sold for $848,400, 27% above its $668,000 low estimate. It has not been traded before.

Works that did not sell

1 work was bought-in: Rene Magritte, La plaine de l'air (The plain of the air) (1940), estimated at $4.77m (low) to $7.5m (high). It has been traded 3 times in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

0 works were withdrawn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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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