San-Yu Leads Christie's $89.04m '20th/21st Century Art Evening Sale' in Hong Kong

A work by San-Yu was the headline sale at Christie's '20th/21st Century Art Evening Sale' on November 28 in Hong Kong.

• The sale totaled $89.04m, meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 46 works sold totaling $89.04m.
• Estimates totaled: $82.55m (low) and $118.8m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 81% of the original 57 lots announced.

The star lot was: San-Yu, Femme nue sur un tapis (Nude on Tapestry) (1929), which sold for $24.04m, 87% above its $12.81m low estimate. It has been traded twice in the past.

The outperformer sold for 375% above its low estimate. Salvo, Il Mattino (The Morning) (1994), sold for $1.12m ($230,700 low estimate). It has been traded 3 times in the past.

A talking point was Scott Kahn, Full Moon (1998), which sold for $355,700, 350% above its $77,000 low estimate. The work has been traded twice in the past.

• 22 works, or 48%, sold above their high estimate.
• 17 works, or 37%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 7 works, or 15%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

8 works were backed by guarantees, including: Yayoi Kusama, A FLOWER (2014). It sold for $10.02m, 20% above its $8.33m low estimate.. It has been traded twice in the past.

Works that did not sell

7 works were bought-in, including: George Condo, Reclining Blue Form (2011), estimated at $3.2m (low) to $3.84m (high). It has been traded 3 times in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

4 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Yoshitomo Nara, Fuck U (2016) estimated at $3.59m (low) to $4.87m (high).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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.