Pierre Soulages Leads Bonhams $219,400 'Prints & Multiples Online' Auction

A work by Pierre Soulages was the headline sale at Bonhams 'Prints & Multiples Online' auction on April 16.

• The sale totaled $219,400, meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 153 works sold totaling $219,400.
• Estimates totaled: $205,500 (low) and $296,600 (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 65% of the original 234 lots announced.

The star lot was: Pierre Soulages, Screenprint N°16 (1981), which sold for $10,200, 57% above its $6,501 low estimate.

The outperformer sold for 1600% above its low estimate. Lucio Fontana, Spatial Concept (1961), sold for $9,526 ($542 low estimate).

• 57 works, or 37%, sold above their high estimate.
• 68 works, or 44%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 28 works, or 18%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

No sales had a guarantee.

Works that did not sell

72 works were bought-in, including: Sam Francis, Untitled (SF-343 and SF-344) (1990), estimated at $3,250 (low) to $5,417 (high).

Withdrawn before the sale

0 works were withdrawn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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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