Lucio Fontana Leads Sotheby's $12.5m 'Contemporary Day Auction' in London

A work by Lucio Fontana was the headline sale at Sotheby's 'Contemporary Day Auction' on June 25 in London.

• The sale totaled $12.51m (GBP9.18m), meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 97 works sold totaling $12.51m.
• Estimates totaled: $9.62m (low) and $13.95m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 79% of the original 123 lots announced.

The star lot was: Lucio Fontana, Concetto spaziale, Attese (1965), which sold for $1.07m, 97% above its $542,600 low estimate. It has been traded 3 times in the past.

The outperformer sold for 457% above its low estimate. Francesca Woodman, From Space², Providence, Rhode Island (1976), sold for $60,600 ($10,900 low estimate). It has been traded once in the past.

• 44 works, or 45%, sold above their high estimate.
• 39 works, or 40%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 14 works, or 14%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Record sale

Marina Adams's Lady Day sold for $86,500, setting a new auction record for the artist, $16,700 above their previous record sale, a 23% rise.

Guaranteed sales

10 works were backed by guarantees, including: Roy Lichtenstein, Landscape with Silver River (Study) (1996). It sold for $449,800, 50% above its $298,400 low estimate.. It has been traded once in the past.

Works that did not sell

24 works were bought-in, including: Thomas Schutte and Richard Deacon, Them and Us (VII) (1995), estimated at $339,100 (low) to $474,800 (high). It has been traded 4 times in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

2 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Pam Evelyn, Sweet Smelling Smoke (2022) estimated at $54,300 (low) to $81,400 (high).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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.