The first phase of Christie’s long game in the Andy Warhol diffusion market is complete. The $17m sale is a strong number but with $100m projected (promised?) to the foundation, there’s a long way to go. (Christie’s is also making it very difficult to see the results of the sale beyond the aggregated total.) Here’s Christie’s own take on the sale:

Andy Warhol at Christie’s, three single-artist sales of Photographs, Prints, and Paintings and Works on Paper held at Christie’s New York on November 12, 2012, to benefit The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, was the first auction in a multi-year, multi-platform partnership between the Foundation and Christie’s. It realized a total of $17,017,050. The sale achieved sell-through rates of 91% by lot.

Leading the sale of 354 works by Andy Warhol were Endangered Species: San Francisco Silverspot which had an estimate of $1,000,000 – $1,500,000 and sold for $1,258,500, followed by Endangered Species: Bighorn Ram, estimated at $700,000 – $1,000,000 which achieved $842,500, and Jackie, which more than doubled its high estimate of $300,000, realizing $626,500. Among the diverse expanse of works offered in today’s sale we saw a strong demand for unique photographs and prints with many exceeding high estimates, including Self-Portrait in Fright Wig, estimated at $12,000 – $18,000, which achieved $50,000; Enna Jetticks, estimated at $50,000 – $70,000 which reached $206,500 and Dove, estimated at $60,000-$80,000 and selling for $266,500.