Sotheby's Prints & Photographs Part I Auction Totals $5.54m
3 min read · 16 Apr 2026
La Femme à la fenêtre by Pablo Picasso sold for $435,200. Image courtesy of Sotheby's
A work by Pablo Picasso was the headline sale at Sotheby's 'Prints & Photographs Part I' auction on April 14 in New York.
- The sale totaled $5.54m, meeting the pre-sale estimate.
Snapshot of the sale
- 61 works sold totaling $5.54m.
- Estimates totaled: $5.17m (low) and $7.95m (high), excluding premiums.
- The sell-through rate was 84% of the original 73 lots announced.
The star lot was: Pablo Picasso, La Femme à la fenêtre (1952), which sold for $435,200, 190% above its $150,000 low estimate.
Explosion, from Portfolio 9 by Roy Lichtenstein sold for $83,200 (454% above estimate). Image courtesy of Sotheby's
The outperformer sold for 454% above its low estimate. Roy Lichtenstein, Explosion, from Portfolio 9 (1967), sold for $83,200 ($15,000 low estimate). The work was backed by a guarantee. It has been traded once in the past.
- 31 works, or 51%, sold above their high estimate.
- 28 works, or 46%, sold within their low and high estimate.
- 2 works, or 3%, sold below their low estimate.
- 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.
Guaranteed sales
3 works were backed by guarantees, including: Roy Lichtenstein, Explosion, from Portfolio 9 (1967). It sold for $83,200, 454% above its $15,000 low estimate.. It has been traded once in the past.
Works that did not sell
12 works were bought-in, including: Helmut Newton, Sie Kommen, Paris (Dressed and Naked) (1981), estimated at $1.2m (low) to $1.8m (high). It has been traded once in the past.
Withdrawn before the sale
0 works were withdrawn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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.
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