Renoir Leads Mainichi Auction's $7m 'Sale 805' in Tokyo

A work by Pierre-Auguste Renoir was the headline sale at Mainichi Auction Inc. 'SALE 805 MAIN SALE' on February 8 in Tokyo .

• The sale totaled $7.01m (JPY1.06bn), meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 230 works sold totaling $7.01m.
• Estimates totaled: $5.33m (low) and $7.86m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 76% of the original 303 lots announced.

The star lot was: Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Fleurs variees (1917), which sold for $319,100, 65% above its $192,500 low estimate. It has not been traded before.

The outperformer sold for 784% above its low estimate. Hiroshi Yoshida, Mountain stream (Undated), sold for $57,000 ($6,440 low estimate).

• 131 works, or 57%, sold above their high estimate.
• 97 works, or 42%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 2 works, or 1%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

No sales had a guarantee.

Works that did not sell

73 works were bought-in, including: Yayoi Kusama, Dots (1990), estimated at $193,200 (low) to $257,600 (high).

Withdrawn before the sale

0 works were withdrawn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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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