Joan Mitchell Leads Sotheby's $20m 'Contemporary Curated' Auction in New York

A work by Joan Mitchell was the headline sale at Sotheby's 'Contemporary Curated' auction on February 26 in New York.

• The sale totaled $19.88m, meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 73 works sold totaling $19.88m.
• Estimates totaled: $16.17m (low) and $23.98m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 72% of the original 101 lots announced.

The star lot was: Joan Mitchell, Untitled (1985), which sold for $3.95m, 31% above its $3m low estimate. It has been traded once in the past.

The outperformer sold for 471% above its low estimate. Mel Bochner, Blah Blah Blah (2014), sold for $57,100 ($10,000 low estimate). It has not been traded before.

• 38 works, or 52%, sold above their high estimate.
• 30 works, or 41%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 5 works, or 7%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

6 works were backed by guarantees, including: George Condo, Artist and Muse (2015). It sold for $1.88m, 87% above its $1m low estimate.. It has been traded once in the past.

Works that did not sell

22 works were bought-in, including: Diane Arbus, A Family on Their Lawn One Sunday in Westchester, N. Y. (1968), estimated at $300,000 (low) to $500,000 (high). It has been traded 3 times in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

6 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Christopher Wool, Untitled (2006) estimated at $600,000 (low) to $800,000 (high).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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.