Sotheby's First Contemporary Art Auction of 2017 Exceeds Expectations

'Contemporary Curated' Sale in New York Totals $26.2 Million

56.1% of Lots Achieve Prices Above the High Estimate

14 Auction Records Established

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Mar 03, 2017, 07:00 ET

NEW YORK, March 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sotheby's (NYSE: BID) spring season of contemporary art auctions began yesterday in New York with Contemporary Curated achieving $26,187,625, above the $16.4/23 million pre-sale estimate. The sale was led by Ed Ruscha's Broken Pencil, which nearly tripled its high estimate of $450,000 to sell for $1.3 million, and Gerhard Richter's Abstraktes Bild (843-4) from the collection of Ed Cohen and Victoria Shaw that sold for $1.2 million, above the $800,000 pre-sale estimate.

Gerhard Richter's 'Abstraktes Bild (843-4)' was among the highlights of Sotheby's Contemporary Curated sale in New York, which exceeded expectations to total $26.2 million.

Tad Smith, Sotheby's President & CEO commented: "Our New York Contemporary Curated Sale caught a wave of buying interest due to its clever marketing and outstanding consignments. We are thrilled with the team and further encouraged for next week's major contemporary sale series in London."

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Sotheby's has been uniting collectors with world-class works of art since 1744. Sotheby's became the first international auction house when it expanded from London to New York (1955), the first to conduct sales in Hong Kong (1973), India (1992) and France (2001), and the first international fine art auction house in China (2012). Today, Sotheby's presents auctions in 10 different salesrooms, including New York, London, Hong Kong and Paris, and Sotheby's BidNow program allows visitors to view all auctions live online and place bids from anywhere in the world. Sotheby's offers collectors the resources of Sotheby's Financial Services, the world's only full-service art financing company, as well as the collection advisory services of its subsidiary, Art Agency, Partners. Sotheby's presents private sale opportunities in more than 70 categories, including S|2, the gallery arm of Sotheby's Global Fine Art Division, and two retail businesses, Sotheby's Diamonds and Sotheby's Wine. Sotheby's has a global network of 80 offices in 40 countries and is the oldest company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (BID).

*Estimates do not include buyer's premium. Prices achieved include the hammer price plus buyer's premium and are net of any fees paid to the purchaser where the purchaser provided an irrevocable bid.

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SOURCE Sotheby's