Sotheby's Robert Mnuchin Evening Auction Totals $166.3m

A work by Mark Rothko, which had a guarantee, was the headline sale at Sotheby's 'Robert Mnuchin: Collector at Heart Evening Auction' on May 14 in New York.

• The sale totaled $166.3m, meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 11 works sold totaling $166.3m.
• Estimates totaled: $124.9m (low) and $177.8m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 100%, so a white-glove sale.

The star lot was: Mark Rothko, Brown and Blacks in Reds (1957), which sold for $85.78m, 22% above its $70m low estimate. The work was backed by a guarantee. It has been traded 3 times in the past.

The outperformer sold for 170% above its low estimate. Willem de Kooning, Untitled (1970), sold for $10.8m ($4m low estimate). The work was backed by a guarantee. It has been traded 10 times in the past.

• 6 works, or 55%, sold above their high estimate.
• 4 works, or 36%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 1 works, or 9%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

11 works were backed by guarantees, including: Mark Rothko, No. 1 (1949). It sold for $20.8m, 38% above its $15m low estimate.. It has been traded 7 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Withdrawn before the sale

0 works were withdrawn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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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