Christie's Monsoon: The Peter Simon Collection Evening Sale Totals $142.1m

A work by Francis Bacon, which had a guarantee, was the headline sale at Christie's 'Monsoon: The Peter Simon Collection Evening Sale' on October 14 in London.

• The sale totaled $142.1m (GBP107.5m), meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 40 works sold totaling $142.1m.
• Estimates totaled: $104.2m (low) and $152.3m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 98% of the original 41 lots announced.

The star lot was: Francis Bacon, Figure in Movement (1978), which sold for $22.72m, 22% above its $18.53m low estimate. The work was backed by a guarantee. It has been traded 6 times in the past.

The outperformer sold for 338% above its low estimate. Portia Zvavahera, This is where I travelled [3] (2020), sold for $406,200 ($92,600 low estimate). The work was backed by a guarantee. It has been traded once in the past.

• 17 works, or 42%, sold above their high estimate.
• 17 works, or 42%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 6 works, or 15%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Auction records

Liubov Popova, Painterly Architectonic (1918), sold for $10.1m, beating the artist’s previous auction record by $6.59m, a 175% rise. The work was backed by a guarantee.

Bridget Riley, Streak 2 (1979), sold for $6.89m, beating the artist’s previous auction record by $1.08m, a 18% rise. The work was backed by a guarantee.

Portia Zvavahera, This is where I travelled [3] (2020), sold for $406,200, beating the artist’s previous auction record by $50,600, a 14% rise.

David Bomberg, San Miguel, Toledo, Afternoon (1929) sold for $4.31m, beating the artist’s previous auction record by $2.39m, a 100% rise.

Guaranteed sales

41 works were backed by guarantees, including: Piet Mondrian, Composition A, with Double Line and Yellow (1935). It sold for $12.84m, 21% above its $10.59m low estimate. It has been traded 11 times in the past.

Works that did not sell

1 work was bought-in: Frank Auerbach, Head of Miss Steinberg (1967), estimated at $926,400 (low) to $1.32m (high). It has been traded 6 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Withdrawn before the sale

0 works were withdrawn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.