Sotheby’s gargantuan 472-lot mid-season sale brought in $12.6 million against a presale estimate of between $9.2 million and $13.2 million. Since the buyer’s premium is closer to 25% on most the items in this sale, the aggregate hammer price was in the range of $10.5 million (Sotheby’s doesn’t break out prices), or comfortably above the low estimate. In a sale crammed with Sam Francis and Alexander Calder paintings, numerous artists stood out. Lucio Fontana, Victor Vasarely, and Arnaldo Pomodoro all scored, as did Luis Tomasello, Esteban Vicente, and Wojciech Fangor. Chris Ofili, Allan D’Arcangelo (the star of September’s mid-season extravaganza), and Asger Jorn also caught big bids.

But the real market tells were two works by Keith Haring and several Zao Wou-ki paintings that sold aggressively. Both artists are in the midst of a market swing. Adolph Gottlieb attracted attention for some early works; his abstract expressionist paintings have been going wild in the private market. The surprise of the sale was that the Anselm Reyle stripe painting — which was somewhat misplaced here — failed to find a buyer.