Phillips MODERNISM: Editions & Works on Paper Auction Totals $1.13m

A work by Pablo Picasso was the headline sale at Phillips 'MODERNISM: Editions & Works on Paper' auction on April 22 in New York.

• The sale totaled $1.13m, meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 107 works sold totaling $1.13m.
• Estimates totaled: $788,100 (low) and $1.16m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 91% of the original 118 lots announced.

The star lot was: Pablo Picasso, Le repas frugal (The Frugal Meal), plate 1 from La Suite des Saltimbanques (1904), which sold for $141,900, 136% above its $60,000 low estimate. It has been traded 3 times in the past.

The outperformer sold for 867% above its low estimate. Charles Burchfield, Study for Wallpaper in Black and White (1922), sold for $19,400 ($2,000 low estimate). It has been traded twice in the past.

• 58 works, or 54%, sold above their high estimate.
• 29 works, or 27%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 20 works, or 19%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

No sales had a guarantee.

Works that did not sell

11 works were bought-in, including: Pablo Picasso, Buste d'homme (Bust of a Man), plate 4 from La Suite des Saltimbanques (1905), estimated at $60,000 (low) to $80,000 (high). It has not been traded before.

Withdrawn before the sale

0 works were withdrawn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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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