Joan Mitchell Leads Sotheby's $20m 'Contemporary Curated' Auction in New York
3 min read · 27 Feb 2025
Untitled by Joan Mitchell sold for $3.95m. Image courtesy of Sotheby's
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.
Breakdown of results against auction house estimates that are disclosed
- 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Withdrawn before the sale
6 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Christopher Wool, Untitled (2006) estimated at $600,000 (low) to $800,000 (high).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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.