Sotheby's Contemporary Discoveries Auction Totals $7.7m
3 min read · 15 Jul 2026
blue violet green pink yellow by Ugo Rondinone sold for $281,600. Image courtesy of Sotheby's
A work by Ugo Rondinone was the headline sale at Sotheby's 'Contemporary Discoveries' auction on July 7-14 in New York.
- The sale totaled $7.7m, meeting the pre-sale estimate.
Snapshot of the sale
- 328 works sold totaling $7.7m.
- Estimates totaled: $5.77m (low) and $8.5m (high), excluding premiums.
- The sell-through rate was 87% of the original 378 lots announced.
The star lot was: Ugo Rondinone, blue violet green pink yellow (2024), which sold for $281,600, 56% above its $180,000 low estimate. It has not been traded before.
Score by Betsy Kaufman sold for $32,000 (3100% above estimate). Image courtesy of Sotheby's
The outperformer sold for 3100% above its low estimate. Betsy Kaufman, Score (1994), sold for $32,000 ($1,000 low estimate). It has not been traded before.
- 149 works, or 45%, sold above their high estimate.
- 116 works, or 35%, sold within their low and high estimate.
- 63 works, or 19%, sold below their low estimate.
- 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.
Guaranteed sales
13 works were backed by guarantees, including: Jasper Johns, Target with Four Faces (ULAE 203) (1979). It sold for $41,000, 104% above its $20,000 low estimate.. It has been traded once in the past.
Works that did not sell
43 works were bought-in, including: Ed Ruscha, Broken Clock (2008), estimated at $200,000 (low) to $300,000 (high). It has been traded 4 times in the past.
Withdrawn before the sale
7 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Yoshitomo Nara, A Little Poor Creature (1998), estimated at $60,000 (low) to $80,000 (high).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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.
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