George Condo Leads Christie's $15.21m '21st Century Day Sale' in Hong Kong

A work by George Condo was the headline sale at Christie's '21st Century Day Sale' on May 29 in Hong Kong.

• The sale totaled $15.21m, meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 92 works sold totaling $15.21m.
• Estimates totaled: $11.06m (low) and $18.57m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 89% of the original 103 lots announced.

The star lot was: George Condo, Transmutation 2 (2015), which sold for $1.91m, 86% above its $1.02m low estimate. It has been traded once in the past.

The outperformer sold for 600% above its low estimate. Sholto Blissett, Ship of Fools X (2022), sold for $77,400 ($10,200 low estimate). It has been traded once in the past.

• 46 works, or 50%, sold above their high estimate.
• 39 works, or 42%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 7 works, or 8%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

7 works were backed by guarantees, including: Yayoi Kusama, Pumpkin (1987). It sold for $1.29m, 25% above its $1.02m low estimate.. It has been traded once in the past.

Works that did not sell

9 works were bought-in, including: George Condo, The Rock Thrower (2007), estimated at $486,800 (low) to $755,900 (high). It has been traded 6 times in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

2 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Liu Ye, Memory of My Teacher (2006) estimated at $358,700 (low) to $486,800 (high).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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.