Rodin Leads Phillips $12m Modern & Contemporary Sale, Morning Session, in New York

A work by Auguste Rodin, which had a guarantee, was the headline sale at Phillips 'Modern & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session' on November 21 in New York.

• The sale totaled $11.9m, meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 103 works sold totaling $11.9m.
• Estimates totaled: $11.48m (low) and $16.84m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 79% of the original 131 lots announced.

The star lot was: Auguste Rodin, Les bourgeois de Calais, deuxième maquette (i) Pierre de Wissant, vêtu; (ii) Jean d'Aire, vêtu; (iii) Jacques de Wissant, vêtu; (iv) Jean de Fiennes, torse nu; (v) Eustache de Saint-Pierre, vêtu; (vi) Andieu d'Andres, vêtu, 1885 (1973), which sold for $903,000, 29% above its $700,000 low estimate. The work was backed by a guarantee. It has been traded 9 times in the past.

The outperformer sold for 390% above its low estimate. Joachim Berthold, Mother and Child (Undated), sold for $2,451 ($500 low estimate). It has been traded once in the past.

• 46 works, or 45%, sold above their high estimate.
• 40 works, or 39%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 17 works, or 17%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Auction records

Mary Abbott's Forest of Dak (1965) sold for $167,700. The sale beat the artist’s previous auction record by $11,700, a 7% rise.

Lita Albuquerque's Event Horizon (2004) sold for $49,000, a new auction record for the artist.

Guaranteed sales

10 works were backed by guarantees, including: Roy Lichtenstein, Water Lilies with Japanese Bridge (1992). It sold for $645,000, 61% above its $400,000 low estimate.. It has been traded 3 times in the past.

Works that did not sell

22 works were bought-in, including: Robert Indiana, Small Diamond Hexagon 6 (1966), estimated at $300,000 (low) to $500,000 (high). It has been traded 5 times in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

6 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Fernando Botero, Femme du Monde (1974) estimated at $350,000 (low) to $450,000 (high).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.