Jean-Michel Basquiat Leads Sotheby's $127m 'The Now and Contemporary Evening Auction' in New York

A work by Jean-Michel Basquiat, which had a guarantee, was the headline sale at Sotheby's 'The Now and Contemporary Evening Auction' on May 15 in New York.

• The sale totaled $127.1m, meeting the pre-sale estimate.

In May 2024, two comparable sales at Sotheby's New York totaled $267m.

Snapshot of the sale

• 38 works sold totaling $127.1m.
• Estimates totaled: $102.5m (low) and $148.2m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 88% of the original 43 lots announced.

The star lot was: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled (1981), which sold for $16.36m, 63% above its $10m low estimate. The work was backed by a guarantee. It has been traded once in the past.

The outperformer sold for 712% above its low estimate. Yu Nishimura, across the place (2023), sold for $406,400 ($50,000 low estimate). It has been traded once in the past.

• 17 works, or 45%, sold above their high estimate.
• 17 works, or 45%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 4 works, or 11%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

25 works were backed by guarantees, including: Frank Stella, Adelante (1964). It sold for $7m, 30% below its $10m low estimate.. It has been traded 4 times in the past.

Record sales

Michael Armitage's Mpeketoni (2015) sold for $2.37m, a 5% rise.

Yu Nishimura's across the place (2023) sold for $406,400, a 37% rise.

Works that did not sell

3 works were bought-in, including: Cecily Brown, Burkini Kill (2016), estimated at $1.8m (low) to $2.5m (high). It has been traded once in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

2 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Richard Serra, The United States Senate Dictates Censorship (1989) estimated at $700,000 (low) to $1m (high).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. 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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.