Francis Bacon Leads Sotheby's $175.6m Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction

A work by Francis Bacon was the headline sale at Sotheby's 'Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction' on March 4 in London.

• The sale totaled $175.6m (GBP131m), meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 53 works sold totaling $175.6m.
• Estimates totaled: $129.4m (low) and $183.6m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 98% of the original 54 lots announced.
• The auction house described it as a white-glove sale as 53 lots sold and none were bought-in.

The star lot was: Francis Bacon, Self-Portrait (1972), which sold for $21.5m, 100% above its $10.73m low estimate. It has been traded twice in the past.

The outperformer sold for 768% above its low estimate and set a new auction record for the artist. Leon Kossoff, Children’s Swimming Pool, 11 o’clock Saturday Morning, August (1969), sold for $6.99m ($804,500 low estimate). It has been traded 3 times in the past.

• 18 works, or 34%, sold above their high estimate.
• 26 works, or 49%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 9 works, or 17%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Record sale

Leon Kossoff's Children's Swimming Pool set a new auction record for the artist, selling for $6.99m, which is $5.2m above his previous record sale.

Guaranteed sales

26 works were backed by guarantees, including: Lucio Fontana, Concetto spaziale (1960). It sold for $13.17m, 15% above its $11.4m low estimate. It has been traded twice in the past.

Works that did not sell

0 works were bought-in.

Withdrawn before the sale

1 work was withdrawn before the sale: Robert Ryman, Series #28 (White) (2004), estimated at $677,900 (low) to $949,000 (high).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. 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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.