Sotheby's Hong Kong Contemporary Day Auction Totals $10.29m

A work by Yayoi Kusama, which had a guarantee, was the headline sale at Sotheby's 'Contemporary Day Auction' on September 29 in Hong Kong.

• The sale totaled $10.29m (HKD80.71m), meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 48 works sold totaling $10.29m.
• Estimates totaled: $7.67m (low) and $12.56m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 81% of the original 59 lots announced.

The star lot was: Yayoi Kusama, Pumpkin (1989), which sold for $1.63m, 60% above its $1.02m low estimate. The work was backed by a guarantee. It has been traded twice in the past.

The outperformer sold for 593% above its low estimate. Wang Fanseng, Whale Spout (2019), sold for $106,100 ($15,300 low estimate). It has been traded once in the past.

• 27 works, or 56%, sold above their high estimate.
• 14 works, or 29%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 7 works, or 15%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

1 work was backed by a guarantee: Yayoi Kusama, Pumpkin (1989). It sold for $1.63m, 60% above its $1.02m low estimate. It has been traded twice in the past.

Works that did not sell

6 works were bought-in, including: Takashi Murakami, Untitled (2020), estimated at $191,200 (low) to $318,700 (high). It has been traded once in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

5 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Yoshitomo Nara, Untitled (1988), estimated at $510,000 (low) to $764,900 (high).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. Estimates, sale prices and totals are converted into US dollars. 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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.