LONDON—Christie’s kicked off the London June sale season tonight with a decent result, selling the most expensive of its offerings but having more trouble with middle-range works, a difficulty that affected the buy-in rate.
LONDON—Christie’s kicked off the London June sale season tonight with a decent result, selling the most expensive of its offerings but having more trouble with middle-range works, a difficulty that affected the buy-in rate.
It was a sale dominated by European and U.K.-based bidders, who bought 84 percent of the lots offered, compared to just 14 percent U.S. participation and 2 percent Asian.
The results were solid but unexceptional: Of 44 lots offered, 30 sold, for a sold rate of 68 percent by lot and 84 percent by value. Nine works sold for more than a million pounds, 11 for more than a million dollars, and the final tally was £37,235,550 ($61,277,947), just within the pre-sale estimated range of £36.85 million to £50.15 million. That compares to a year ago, when 66 lots brought £144,440,500, Christie’s highest-ever auction total, and a 1919 Monet “Waterlillies” sold for a record £40.9 million.
Related
To read the full article, visit artinfo.com
Content from our partners
