Rene Magritte Leads Sotheby's, Online $10.01m 'Modern & Contemporary Art' Auction

A work by Rene Magritte was the headline sale at Sotheby's, Online 'Modern & Contemporary Art' auction on December 5.

• The sale totaled $10.01m (EUR9.5m), falling short of its pre-sale low estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 130 works sold totaling $10.01m.
• Estimates totaled: $10.25m (low) and $14.81m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 75% of the original 173 lots announced.

The star lot was: Rene Magritte, L'État de veille (1958), which sold for $1.11m, 6% above its $1.05m low estimate. It has been traded 6 times in the past.

The outperformer sold for 528% above its low estimate. Leonor Fini, Rouge et noir (Undated), sold for $32,900 ($5,226 low estimate). It has been traded once in the past.

• 56 works, or 43%, sold above their high estimate.
• 58 works, or 45%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 15 works, or 12%, sold below their low estimate.
• 1 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

No sales had a guarantee.

Works that did not sell

41 works were bought-in, including: Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Portrait de Madame Fontaine Desjardins (1905), estimated at $627,200 (low) to $836,200 (high). It has been traded 3 times in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

2 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Lucio Fontana, Battaglia (1950) estimated at $41,800 (low) to $52,300 (high).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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.