Warhol Leads Christie's Online $5.9m Auction

A work by Andy Warhol was the headline sale at Christie's Online 'First Open | Post-War & Contemporary Art' auction on December 2-16.

• The sale totaled $5.93m, meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 247 works sold totaling $5.93m.
• Estimates totaled: $5.35m (low) and $7.86m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 79% of the original 311 lots announced.

The star lot was: Andy Warhol, Burning Heart (1981), which sold for $152,400, 27% above its $120,000 low estimate. It has been traded 3 times in the past.

The outperformer sold for 1297% above its low estimate. Liliana Porter, Minnie (1995), sold for $2,794 ($200 low estimate). It has not been traded before.

• 98 works, or 40%, sold above their high estimate.
• 80 works, or 32%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 69 works, or 28%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

45 works were backed by guarantees, including: Frank Stella, The Sphynx 1X (1988). It sold for $107,900, 79% above its $60,000 low estimate.. It has been traded once in the past.

Works that did not sell

61 works were bought-in, including: Kenny Scharf, Imperialistic (1989), estimated at $80,000 (low) to $120,000 (high). It has been traded once in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

3 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Matthew Day Jackson, Rocky Mountain Falls (after Bierstadt) (2022) estimated at $10,000 (low) to $15,000 (high).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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.