Lichtenstein Leads Sotheby's $101.9m Contemporary Day Auction in New York

A work by Roy Lichtenstein was the headline sale at Sotheby's 'Contemporary Day Auction' on May 15 in New York.

• The sale totaled $101.9m, meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 295 works sold totaling $101.9m.
• Estimates totaled: $71.75m (low) and $103.3m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 89% of the original 331 lots announced.

The star lot was: Roy Lichtenstein, Girl in Mirror (1964), which sold for $6.22m, 24% above its $5m low estimate. It has been traded 9 times in the past.

The outperformer sold for 1265% above its low estimate. Deborah Butterfield, Untitled (1986), sold for $409,600 ($30,000 low estimate). It has been traded once in the past.

• 176 works, or 60%, sold above their high estimate.
• 82 works, or 28%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 37 works, or 13%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Auction records

Leon Ferrari, Sin título (1978) sold for $256,000, beating the artist’s previous auction record by $31,000, a 13% rise.

Graham Little's work on paper, Untitled (Boutique) (2022), sold for $44,800, beating the artist’s previous auction record by $9,800, a 28% rise.

Guaranteed sales

37 works were backed by guarantees, including: Helen Frankenthaler, Perseus (1983). It sold for $2.8m, 55% above its $1.8m low estimate.. It has been traded once in the past.

Works that did not sell

26 works were bought-in, including: Richard Diebenkorn, Ingleside II (1963), estimated at $800,000 (low) to $1.2m (high). It has been traded 10 times in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

10 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Ad Reinhardt, Abstract Painting (Green) (1952), estimated at $800,000 (low) to $1.2m (high).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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.