Vincent van Gogh Leads Christie's $133.2m '20th/21st Century Evening Sale' in Hong Kong

A work by Vincent van Gogh, which had a guarantee, was the headline sale at Christie's '20th/21st Century Evening Sale' on September 26 in Hong Kong.

• The sale totaled $133.2m (HKD1.04bn), meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 40 works sold totaling $133.2m.
• Estimates totaled: $113.5m (low) and $176.5m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 87% of the original 46 lots announced.

The star lot was: Vincent van Gogh, Les canots amarrés (1887), which sold for $32.22m, 9% above its $29.52m low estimate. The work was backed by a guarantee. It has been traded 9 times in the past.

The outperformer sold for 1940% above its low estimate. Ronald Ventura, STATE OF BLOOM (2021), sold for $4.71m ($231,000 low estimate). It has been traded once in the past.

• 13 works, or 32%, sold above their high estimate.
• 25 works, or 62%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 2 works, or 5%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

9 works were backed by guarantees, including: Vincent van Gogh, Les canots amarrés (1887). It sold for $32.22m, 9% above its $29.52m low estimate.. It has been traded 9 times in the past.

Works that did not sell

3 works were bought-in, including: Chu Teh-chun, Dynamisme bleu I (Blue Dynamism I) (1982), estimated at $1.54m (low) to $2.82m (high). It has been traded once in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

3 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Yayoi Kusama, SELF-PORTRAIT (BOTEFO) (2014) estimated at $2.95m (low) to $5.13m (high).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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.