Picasso Leads Christie's $11.9m 'Spellbound: The Hegewisch Collection, Part I' Auction in London

A work by Pablo Picasso was the headline sale at Christie's 'Spellbound: The Hegewisch Collection, Part I' auction on October 16 in London.

• The sale totaled $11.92m (£8.94m), meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Klaus Hegewisch (1919-2014) was a German businessman and WW2 veteran who built up his collection of prints and drawings assisted by his first and second wives, Helga and Erika.

Snapshot of the sale

• 50 works sold totaling $11.92m.
• Estimates totaled: $8.35m (low) and $12.85m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 93% of the original 54 lots announced.

The star lot was: Pablo Picasso, Quarter of Brie Nose (Study for Les Demoiselles d'Avignon or Nude with Drapery) (1907), which sold for $1.19m, 74% above its $680,300 low estimate. It has been traded 4 times in the past.

The outperformer sold for 1269% above its low estimate. Gustave Dore, '...here I opened wide the door; Darkness there and nothing more...': a n illustration for Edgar Allan Poe: 'The Raven' (Undated), sold for $93,200 ($6,803 low estimate). It has been traded once in the past.

• 36 works, or 72%, sold above their high estimate.
• 9 works, or 18%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 5 works, or 10%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

No sales had a guarantee.

Works that did not sell

4 works were bought-in, including: Pablo Picasso, Le repas frugal (1904), estimated at $2.04m (low) to $3.4m (high). It has been traded once 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Withdrawn before the sale

0 works were withdrawn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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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