Kossoff Makes the Biggest Splash at Sotheby's $204m Spring Sales

A splashy painting by Leon Kossoff and a Francis Bacon self-portrait led Sotheby’s offerings in London last week, which were also boosted by a stand-alone sale of David Hockney's springtime landscapes.

Overall, the auction house’s four sales on March 4-5 scored an A- on the HENI Auction Index up from a B+ at Sotheby's comporarable sales in London 12 months ago.

This was partly due to the strong rebound in total sales to nearly $204m with fees when 309 lots went under the hammer, the latter 50% above average. As the auction house’s 28% buyer’s fee now applies to a larger range of lots, that should have helped its bottom line.

Works that sold for well above their low estimate included Kossoff's painting Children’s Swimming Pool, 11 o’clock Saturday Morning, August (1969). It set a new record for the artist when it sold for $6.99m with fees, which was more than eight and a half times the low estimate.

The percentages of lots hammering above their low and high pre-sale estimates declined, however, and both were below the averages in previous comparable sales.

The HENI Auction Index uses more than ten data points to measure the success of a sale or group of sales across a wide range of metrics.

These include the average hammer to mid-estimate ratio, which at 1.1, was 20% below average.

The percentage of lots with strong guarantees or irrevocable bids fell but remained significantly above average in previous comparable sales. The percentage of lots with weak guarantees, which sold for on or near their low estimates, was also well above average.

The average number of bidders per lot was in line with the norm.

The percentage of lots withdrawn increased but to a level that is still 30% below average: 3.2% vs a typical 4.6%.

Robert Ryman’s abstract, Series #28 (White) (2004), which had a $677,900 to $949,000 estimate, was the one lot withdrawn ahead of Sotheby’s modern and contemporary evening sale, which the auction house described as “white glove” as no works were bought in.

Across the four sales, the percentage of lots that did not find buyers creeped up to 27%, which is 50% above average in previous comparable sales.

For the self-made British billionaire Joe Lewis, the marquee evening sale was an A+ affair. He consigned the record-breaking Kossoff and the Bacon self-portrait, which fetched $21.5m with fees. He also sold two paintings by Lucian Freud the same night. A Young Painter (1957) went for $9.61m and Blond Girl on a Bed (1987) sold for $9.94m when fees are added.

Methodology: for how the HENI Auction Index classifies sales, see here.