Christie's The Art of the Surreal Evening Sale Totals $57.42m

A work by Rene Magritte, which had a guarantee, was the headline sale at Christie's 'The Art of the Surreal Evening Sale' on March 5 in London.

• The sale totaled $57.42m (GBP42.98m), meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 26 works sold totaling $57.42m.
• Estimates totaled: $37.13m (low) and $57.88m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 96% of the original 27 lots announced.
• The auction housed described it as a white-glove sale as no lots were bought-in but one work was withdrawn before the auction.

The star lot was: Rene Magritte, Les grâces naturelles (1961), which sold for $11.38m, 31% above its $8.68m low estimate. The work was backed by a guarantee. It has been traded 3 times in the past.

The outperformer sold for 359% above its low estimate. Dorothea Tanning, Children's Games (1942), sold for $6.26m ($1.36m low estimate). It has been traded 3 times in the past.

• 14 works, or 54%, sold above their high estimate.
• 12 works, or 46%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 0 works, or 0%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Record sales

Dorothea Tanning's Children's Games (1942) sold for $6.26m, beating the artist’s previous auction record by $2.86m, a 83% rise.

Toyen's Le devenir de la liberté set a new auction record for the artist, selling for $4.96m, which is $1.27m above her previous record sale, a 34% rise.

Guaranteed sales

4 works were backed by guarantees, including: Rene Magritte, Illustrated Youth (1937). It sold for $3.08m, 28% above its $2.4m low estimate.. It has been traded 3 times in the past.

Works that did not sell

0 works were bought-in.

Withdrawn before the sale

1 work was withdrawn before the sale: Rene Magritte, Le choeur des sphinges (1964), estimated at $6.81m (low) to $10.89m (high).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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.