Yoshitomo Nara Leads Phillips $6.54m 'Modern & Contemporary Art Day Sale' in Hong Kong

A work by Yoshitomo Nara was the headline sale at Phillips 'Modern & Contemporary Art Day Sale' on November 26 in Hong Kong.

• The sale totaled $6.54m (HKD50.92m), meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 80 works sold totaling $6.54m.
• Estimates totaled: $6.27m (low) and $9.65m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 73% of the original 109 lots announced.

The star lot was: Yoshitomo Nara, Untitled (1992), which sold for $554,900, 10% below its $616,800 low estimate. It has been traded once in the past.

The outperformer sold for 1170% above its low estimate. Zeng Hao, 28th April, 2004 (2004), sold for $32,600 ($2,570 low estimate). It has not been traded before.

• 26 works, or 32%, sold above their high estimate.
• 41 works, or 51%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 13 works, or 16%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

No sales had a guarantee.

Works that did not sell

23 works were bought-in, including: Liu Ye, H.C. Andersen (2001), estimated at $257,000 (low) to $385,500 (high). It has been traded once in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

6 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Richard Pettibone, Andy Warhol, '32 Cans of Campbell's Soup', 1962 (1987) estimated at $122,100 (low) to $154,200 (high).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. 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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.