Sarah Douglas reports in the New York Observer that Christie’s star Urs Fischer lot, the untitled yellow bear on view at the Seagram’s building, was sought after by several auction houses:

The Transom hears that auctioneer Phillips de Pury had previously attempted to beat Christie’s to the Mugrabis’s bear with a cool $10M guarantee to sell it. They turned it down, along with an $8M offer on the bear from an unidentified private buyer. Instead, they chose Phillips competitor Christie’s—despite no such guarantee

Christie’s telegraphed $9 million as the number it might see for the bear when the lot was first announced. Others have mentioned numbers as high as $20 million. Turning down a $10m guarantee raises the bar for a successful sale.

Christie’s Bullish on Urs Fischer’s Bear (Observer)