Irma Stern Leads Sotheby's $12.31m Modern & Modern British Day Auction including Property from the Collection of Erich & Senta Goeritz

A work by Irma Stern was the headline sale at Sotheby's 'Modern & Modern British Day Auction including Property from the Collection of Erich & Senta Goeritz' on March 5 in London.

• The sale totaled $12.31m (GBP9.23m), meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 114 works sold totaling $12.31m.
• Estimates totaled: $9.99m (low) and $14.83m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 84% of the original 136 lots announced.

The star lot was: Irma Stern, Two Swahili Girls, Zanzibar (1945), which sold for $853,300, 26% above its $674,800 low estimate. It has not been traded before.

The outperformer sold for 1164% above its low estimate. Konstantin Vialov, Red Sailors at the Oars (Undated), sold for $512,000 ($40,500 low estimate). It has been traded once in the past.

• 46 works, or 40%, sold above their high estimate.
• 54 works, or 47%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 14 works, or 12%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

2 works were backed by guarantees, including: Raoul Dufy, La Tour Eiffel vue de la Seine (1925). It sold for $85,300, 40% above its $60,700 low estimate.. It has been traded 7 times in the past.

Works that did not sell

17 works were bought-in, including: Jack Butler Yeats, On to Glory (1947), estimated at $337,400 (low) to $472,400 (high). It has been traded 4 times in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

5 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Otto Muller, Dorfbach mit Badenden (Village Stream with Bathers) (1928), estimated at $242,900 (low) to $337,400 (high).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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.