Auction recap / Sotheby's
Sotheby's Contemporary Discoveries Auction Realizes $7,734,656 with 88.5% Sell-Through
The online contemporary art sale found buyers for 330 of 373 lots, led by Ugo Rondinone and Theodoros Stamos.
Facts Table · market analytics
Python computed · 2026-07-14- Lots offered
- 373
- Lots sold
- 330
- Lots unsold
- 43
- Sell-through rate
- 88.4718%
- Classified sold lots
- 82
- Pending classified lots
- 248
- Classification coverage
- 24.8485%
- Realized value
- $7,734,656
- Average sold price
- $23,438
- Median sold price
- $12,800
- 90th-percentile sold price
- $51,200
- Top 10% value share
- 44.0532%
- Value concentration (HHI)
- 0.932992%
- Value concentration (Gini)
- 56.5551%
- Price dispersion
- 144.183%
Five-year context
same category / currency- Sell-through vs 5-year category medianCurrent 88.4718% · five-year median 85.15% · n=122
- +3.3 pts
- Average sold price vs 5-year category medianCurrent $23,438 · five-year median $27,451 · n=122
- -4,013 USD
- Realized value vs 5-year category medianCurrent $7,734,656 · five-year median $2,369,310 · n=122
- +5,365,346 USD
Contextual data provided by Pricing Culture Analytics; this is not an exhaustive list. Pricing Culture Analytics organizes publicly available auction data to analyze and produce insights. Source-bound lot results; calculation version pc-auction-market-facts/2.0. Metrics with incomplete or mixed-currency inputs are withheld.
Auction highlights
Ugo Rondinone: blue violet green pink yellow
Sold$281,600Theodoros Stamos: Day of the Two Suns
Sold$217,600Ugo Rondinone: vierteraprilzweitausendundsechsundzwanzig
Sold$192,000Donald Baechler: The Butterfly Flower #3
Sold$179,200Sam Francis: Untitled (Cool Violet)
Sold$179,200Eddie Martinez: Ideal Location
Sold$153,600James Brooks: Karrig
Sold$153,600Robert Motherwell: Blue Figure
Sold$153,600Alexander Calder: Pegs and Cone
Sold$140,800Isamu Noguchi: Goddess
Sold$121,600Christian Boltanski: Reliquaire (Le Fête de Pourim)
Sold$108,800Jim Dine: Zurich
Sold$108,800
| Auction highlights | Sold price | |
|---|---|---|
| Ugo Rondinone: blue violet green pink yellow | $281,600 | |
| Theodoros Stamos: Day of the Two Suns | $217,600 | |
| Ugo Rondinone: vierteraprilzweitausendundsechsundzwanzig | $192,000 | |
| Donald Baechler: The Butterfly Flower #3 | $179,200 | |
| Sam Francis: Untitled (Cool Violet) | $179,200 | |
| Eddie Martinez: Ideal Location | $153,600 | |
| James Brooks: Karrig | $153,600 | |
| Robert Motherwell: Blue Figure | $153,600 | |
| Alexander Calder: Pegs and Cone | $140,800 | |
| Isamu Noguchi: Goddess | $121,600 | |
| Christian Boltanski: Reliquaire (Le Fête de Pourim) | $108,800 | |
| Jim Dine: Zurich | $108,800 | |
Lot rows show the price fields disclosed in the source record.
Contextual data provided by Pricing Culture Analytics; this is not an exhaustive list. Pricing Culture Analytics organizes publicly available auction data to analyze and produce insights.
Sotheby's concluded its Contemporary Discoveries auction, realizing a total of $7,734,656[1] with 330 of 373 lots sold, representing an 88.5% sell-through[1] rate. According to Sotheby's, which published the official results for the sale, the online event brought a steady stream of bidding across its contemporary art and photography selections. While previous iterations of this online sale series have occasionally faced general price softness in no-reserve lots[3] or uneventful photography segments as reported by Collector Daily[2], this edition established a solid baseline of demand.
Auction highlights
Sale file- Ugo Rondinone: blue violet green pink yellow | sold for $281,600
- Theodoros Stamos: Day of the Two Suns | sold for $217,600
- Ugo Rondinone: vierteraprilzweitausendundsechsundzwanzig | sold for $192,000
- Donald Baechler: The Butterfly Flower #3 | sold for $179,200
- Sam Francis: Untitled (Cool Violet) | sold for $179,200
- Eddie Martinez: Ideal Location | sold for $153,600
- James Brooks: Karrig | sold for $153,600
- Robert Motherwell: Blue Figure | sold for $153,600
This result positions the sale as Sotheby's's #5 sale of 126 concluded this year by realized value. Within the broader art category, which has realized $1,181,188,913[1] across all tracked houses this year with an average sell-through rate of 85.8%[1], Sotheby's continues to chase Christie's, the category leader. To date, Sotheby's has realized $113,889,861[1] in this segment, maintaining a year-to-date sell-through rate of 95.8%[1], while its overall year-to-date total across all sales stands at $255,188,830[1].
Sources
- 01
Sotheby's
Contemporary Discoveries - 02
collectordaily.com
Auction Results Contemporary Discoveries July 14 2026 Sothebys Online - 03
collectordaily.com
Auction Results Contemporary Discoveries October 1 2025 Sothebys Online