By the Numbers: A Breakdown of Results From Christie’s de la Cruz Collection Evening Sale, May 2024

Let the numbers tell the story.

At Christie's in New York, a Felix Gonzalez-Torres sculpture sold for a record $13.6 million. Photo by Eileen Kinsella.

Despite a widely publicized cyberattack that forced Christie’s to take down its website—it’s still not back up nearly a week later—the house forged ahead with two evening sales on Tuesday. The first was a solid, albeit heavily orchestrated, offering of works from the collection of the late Miami collector Rosa de la Cruz. Read on for a breakdown of the sale.

Felix Gonzales-Torres, Untitled (America #3). (1992). Image courtesy Christie's.

Felix Gonzales-Torres, Untitled (America #3), 1992. Image courtesy Christie’s.

Total Sales After Fees: $34.4 million

Total Sales of Equivalent Sale Last Year: Not applicable

Hammer Total: $28.1 million

Top Seller: Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s Untitled (America #3), 1992, which went for $13.6 million, edging out its $12 million high estimate.

Lots on Offer: 26

Lots Withdrawn: 1

Lots Sold: 25

Lots Bought In: 0

Sell-through Rate: 96 percent

Sell-through Rate After Withdrawals: 100 percent

Presale Low Estimate: $25 million

Presale Low Estimate After Withdrawals: $23 million

Hammer Total vs. Presale Low Estimate: +$3 million

Hammer Total vs. Presale Low Estimate (revised after withdrawals): +$5 million

Lots Guaranteed: 26

Lots With House Guarantees: 26

Lots With Third-Party Guarantees: 17

Total Low Estimate of Withdrawn Lots: $2 million

Total Low Estimate of Guaranteed Lots: $25 million (100 percent of total presale low estimate) 

Total Low Estimate of Third-Party Guaranteed Lots: $16.6 million (66 percent of total presale low estimate) 

Quote of the Night: “Everyone’s trying their luck this evening,” auctioneer Georgina Hilton said, after multiple bidders tried to split their bids into smaller increments. Later in the sale, she told one would-be haggler that “it wouldn’t be fair to the online client” he was competing against since that platform does not allow one to split a bid.

Lasting Memory: Christie’s dimmed the salesroom lights to accentuate its star lot, Felix Gonzales-Torres’s suspended string of lights, which dangled from the ceiling. It sold for an over-estimate $13.6 million to the Pola Musuem in Japan, setting a new record for the artist.

Parting Shot: It was a long night, and as bidding on a Sterling Ruby painting seemed to stretch on endlessly, with one indecisive bidder on the line with a specialist, Hilton leaned in and asked: “Oui or no?” She then added, playfully: “Fine, it’s your evening plans.”

Next Sale Up: Sotheby’s modern art evening sale on Wednesday, May 15.


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