Oldenburg Eraser Leads $3.84m Leonard Lauder Day Auction

A work by Claes Oldenburg, which had a guarantee, was the headline sale at Sotheby's 'Leonard A. Lauder, Collector | Day Auction' on November 19 in New York.

• The sale totaled $3.84m, exceeding the pre-sale high estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 30 works sold totaling $3.84m.
• Estimates totaled: $2.22m (low) and $3.29m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 100%, so a white-glove sale.

The star lot was: Claes Oldenburg, Typewriter Eraser (1977), which sold for $444,500, 27% above its $350,000 low estimate. The work was backed by a guarantee. It has been traded twice in the past.

The outperformer sold for 789% above its low estimate. Dorothea Rockburne, Drawing Which Makes Itself (B) (1973), sold for $44,500 ($5,000 low estimate). The work was backed by a guarantee. It has been traded twice in the past.

• 22 works, or 73%, sold above their high estimate.
• 2 works, or 7%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 6 works, or 20%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

30 works were backed by guarantees, including: Joseph Cornell, Untitled (Green Parrot Hotel Voyager) (1953). It sold for $330,200, 65% above its $200,000 low estimate.. It has been traded 5 times in the past.

Works that did not sell

0 works were bought-in.

Withdrawn before the sale

0 works were withdrawn

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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.