Francis Bacon Leads Christie's $177.3m '20th / 21st Century: London Evening Sale' in London

A work by Francis Bacon, which had a guarantee, was the headline sale at Christie's '20th / 21st Century: London Evening Sale' on March 7 in London.

• The sale totaled $177.3m, meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 70 works sold totaling $177.3m.
• Estimates totaled: $153.7m (low) and $214.3m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 80% of the original 87 lots announced.

The star lot was: Francis Bacon, Landscape near Malabata, Tangier (1963), which sold for $25m, 31% above its $19m low estimate. The work was backed by a guarantee. It has been traded 5 times in the past.

The outperformer sold for 500% above its low estimate. Allison Katz, Snowglobe (2018), sold for $353,000 ($50,700 low estimate). It has been traded twice in the past.

• 24 works, or 34%, sold above their high estimate.
• 39 works, or 56%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 7 works, or 10%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

24 works were backed by guarantees, including: David Hockney, California (1965). It sold for $23.83m, 16% above its $20.49m low estimate.. It has been traded once in the past.

Works that did not sell

10 works were bought-in, including: Lucio Fontana, Concetto spaziale, Attese (1966), estimated at $3.17m (low) to $4.43m (high). It has been traded 5 times in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

7 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Francis Bacon, Painting March 1985 (1985) estimated at $5.32m (low) to $7.6m (high).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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.