Distribution of results from Sotheby's "The Now" and Contemporary Evening auctions, May 2023

A dizzying, high-variance spring auction cycle had its finale on the Upper East Side on Thursday night, as Sotheby’s held the latest editions of its back-to-back The Now and Contemporary evening sales. Just 24 hours after Christie’s and Phillips duel sales produced relatively uninspiring results – and 48 hours after Sotheby’s Mo Ostin and Modern evening auctions performed unevenly – there was a feeling in the auction house that anything could happen.

Turns out a bit of everything happened at the end of the night. Below is the key data of the double-header.

“The Now” evening sale:

Total sales after fees: $37.2 million
Lots sold (including guaranteed lots): 19
Lots offered before withdrawals: 25
Lots withdrawn: 2
Lots purchased: 4
Sale rate counting withdrawals: 76 percent
Sales rate excluding withdrawals: 82.6%
Total Hammer: $30.1 million
Low pre-sale estimate before withdrawals: $42.4 million
Total hammer vs presale low estimate: –12.3 million dollars
Total low estimate of withdrawn batches: $13.2 million (31.1% of total pre-sales low estimate)
Total low estimate guaranteed prizes: $10.5 million (24.6% of total presale low estimate)
Lots with house guarantees: 7
Total low estimate of prizes guaranteed by third parties: $14.5 million (34.1% of total pre-sale low estimate)
Lots with third-party guarantees: 8
top rated seller: Kerry James Marshall’s Untitled (Boy Mask)hammered at $4.7 million ($5.7 million after fees)
Lasting memory: When auctioneer Michael Macaulay announced that Yoshitomo Nara’s house foggy days (1998), the cover of “The Now”, had been removed from the debates of the evening, something between surprise, concern and perhaps even a little schadenfreude was perceptible in the wave of murmurs (and even a few audible gasps) who burst out of the crowd. No wonder: The painting’s removal instantly vaporized between $12 million and $18 million from an auction that Sotheby’s predicted would bring in at least $42.4 million in presale.

Yoshitomo Nara, Haze Days (1998). Courtesy of Sotheby's.

Yoshitomo Nara, foggy days (1998). Courtesy of Sotheby’s.

While the specter of the unexpected was most certainly in the auction room before The Now kicked off, it took a darker turn during intermission. A strong performance from the Contemporary Frame’s opening lot exorcised some of the tension, as David Hockney Drawing of a swimming pool and a towel hammered $1 million above its high estimate of $1.5 million. The greatest relief came from Sotheby’s ability to find buyers for the five works in the sale estimated at $10 million or more, although two exceeded their low expectations and none of the other three surpassed. their high estimate.

Five lots withdrawn, all slated for at least $1 million, contributed to the failed launch of the Contemporary sale. (One has to wonder how many of those withdrawals were finalized by calls or text messages to senders during the roughly 15 minutes between auctions.) But Sotheby’s specialists averted disaster by selling the other 28 lots on the auction sheet. call.

Here’s how the data broke…

Contemporary Evening Sale

Total sales after fees: $167.5 million
Lots sold (including guaranteed lots): 27
Lots offered before withdrawals: 32
Lots withdrawn: 5
Lots purchased: 0
Sale rate counting withdrawals: 84.4%
Sales rate excluding withdrawals: 100 per cent
Total Hammer: $145.8 million
Low pre-sale estimate before withdrawals: $154.9 million
Total hammer vs presale low estimate: –9.1 million dollars
Total low estimate of withdrawn batches: $15 million (9.6% of total pre-sales low estimate)
Total low estimate guaranteed prizes: $92.1 million (59.5% of total pre-sale low estimate)
Lots with house guarantees: 13
Total low estimate of prizes guaranteed by third parties: $111.1 million (71.7% of total presales low estimate)
Lots with third-party guarantees: 13
top rated seller: Spider by Louise Bourgeois (1996), hammered to its low estimate of $30 million (and increased to $32.8 million after fees)
quote of the night: “It was real tonight” David Galperin, Sotheby’s senior vice president and head of contemporary art, said of the evening’s selective auctions.