Richard Diebenkorn Leads Bonhams $3.45m 'Prints & Multiples' Auction in Los Angeles

A work by Richard Diebenkorn was the headline sale at Bonhams 'Prints & Multiples' auction on March 26 in Los Angeles.

• The sale totaled $3.45m, meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 193 works sold totaling $3.45m.
• Estimates totaled: $2.36m (low) and $3.49m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 87% of the original 221 lots announced.

The star lot was: Richard Diebenkorn, Green (1986), which sold for $572,000, 90% above its $300,000 low estimate. It has been traded once in the past.

The outperformer sold for 325% above its low estimate. Rembrandt, Three Heads of Women: One Asleep (1637), sold for $8,960 ($2,000 low estimate). It has been traded once in the past.

• 102 works, or 53%, sold above their high estimate.
• 80 works, or 41%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 11 works, or 6%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

No sales had a guarantee.

Works that did not sell

28 works were bought-in, including: After Jean-Michel Basquiat, Rome Pays Off (2004), estimated at $60,000 (low) to $80,000 (high). Signed in pencil by Gerard Basquiat, dated and with the estate stamp.

Withdrawn before the sale

0 works were withdrawn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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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