Pablo Picasso Leads Sotheby's $406.4m 'The Emily Fisher Landau' Auction in New York
3 min read · 09 Nov 2023
Femme à la montre by Pablo Picasso sold for $139.4m. Image courtesy of Sotheby's
A work by Pablo Picasso, which had a guarantee, was the headline sale at Sotheby's 'The Emily Fisher Landau Collection: An Era Defined' on November 8 in New York.
- The sale totaled $406.4m, meeting the pre-sale estimate.
Snapshot of the sale
- 31 works sold totaling $406.4m.
- Estimates totaled: $344.5m (low) and $430.1m (high), excluding premiums.
- The sell-through rate was 100%, so a white-glove sale.
The star lot was: Pablo Picasso, Femme à la montre (1932), which sold for $139.4m, 16% above its $120m low estimate. The work was backed by a guarantee. It has been traded twice in the past.
The outperformer sold for 200% above its low estimate. Agnes Martin, Grey Stone II (1961), sold for $18.72m ($6m low estimate), an auction record for the artist. The work was backed by a guarantee. It has been traded twice in the past.
A talking point was Mark Tansey *Triumph Over Mastery II *(1987), which sold for $11.82m, 47% above its $8m low estimate, an auction record for the artist. It has been traded once in the past.
Breakdown of results against auction house estimates that are disclosed
8 works, or 26%, sold above their high estimate.
18 works, or 58%, sold within their low and high estimate.
5 works, or 16%, sold below their low estimate.
0 sold with undisclosed estimates.
Guaranteed sales
All 31 works in the sale were backed by guarantees, including: Pablo Picasso, Femme à la montre (1932).
Works that did not sell
0 works were bought-in.
Withdrawn before the sale
0 works were withdrawn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. 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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.