Sotheby's Contemporary Evening Auction Totals $61m

A work by Willem de Kooning, which had a guarantee, was the headline sale at Sotheby's 'Contemporary Evening Auction' on October 15 in London.

• The sale totaled $61m (GBP45.95m), meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 28 works sold totaling $61m.
• Estimates totaled: $55.21m (low) and $77.65m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 76% of the original 37 lots announced.

The star lot was: Willem de Kooning, Untitled (1977), which sold for $12.95m, 22% above its $10.6m low estimate. The work was backed by a guarantee. It has been traded 6 times in the past.

The outperformer sold for 781% above its low estimate. Michael Andrews, Butterfly Fish (1978), sold for $934,500 ($106,000 low estimate). It has not been traded before.

• 8 works, or 29%, sold above their high estimate.
• 18 works, or 64%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 2 works, or 7%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

10 works were backed by guarantees, including: Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild (1992). It sold for $8.86m, 11% above its $7.95m low estimate. It has been traded 9 times in the past.

Works that did not sell

6 works were bought-in, including: Banksy, Grannies (2006), estimated at $1.99m (low) to $2.65m (high). It has not been traded before.

Withdrawn before the sale

3 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Leon Kossoff, Willesden Junction, Summer No. 1 (1966), estimated at $927k (low) to $1.3m (high).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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.