Young and guaranteed contemporary stars at Christie's

The last evening auction of the long New York week on 21 November at Christie's brought in $106.5 million with commissions, thanks to 42 lots all of which sold after the withdrawal of two lots including a large canvas over two metres by Eric Fischl estimated at $3-4 million. Approximately one third of the catalogue represents artists under 50 and recent works, although million-dollar realisations are the preserve of established names with Basquiat, Jeff Koons and David Hockney.

Guarantees played an important role: 17 lots were defended by third-party guarantees, which in six cases may have saved the work from going unsold, including both million lots by Yayoi Kusama whose guarantees were added just before the auction, a symptom of defensive intervention either by the galleries representing her or by a major collector highly exposed to this market that has been subject to strong speculation for several years now, especially in Asia.

A large 'Pumpkin' most likely went to the guarantor for $6.8m with commissions, down from an estimate of $6-8m, while the nearly two-metre square painted with the distinctive red 'Infinity-Nets' stopped at $2.1m reaching the low estimate of $2-3m with commissions alone. A similar situation for one of the two secured works by Rudolf Stingel, a hyper-realistic portrait fetched $2.1m from an estimate of $1.8-2.5m. Similar considerations apply to Mark Grotjahn's over two-metre high work, which fetched the low estimate of $2.5m with commissions, and Christopher Wool's $1.2-1.8m below estimate to which third-party protection was only added at the last moment. How much these prices are actually 'free market' is at least questionable. To these are added six other direct guarantees by the auction house, which are less market distorting because in this case the lot may remain unsold.

•Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled; - record for work on paper - Price Realized: $22,950,000

The only lot to cross the ten million mark was a work by Basquiat, a large-scale portrait on paper from the fateful year 1982, which achieved a record price for the medium by touching $23 million from an estimate of $20-30 million. Long contended was an 'African mask' painted in enamel on aluminium by the other master of street art Keith Haring, which doubled its low estimate to $3.2 million, a record price for one of his sculptures.

There were two historic artists with major results: Louise Bourgeois with two works that sold above their guarantees for a total of $4.1m, including $2.6m for "Les Fleurs" a work on paper that set a new record for the medium, and Ana Mendieta, an artist who rarely comes to auction, with two works guaranteed by the auctioneer, including a wood sculpture that set a new record at $756,000 above its low estimate. Also setting a record was a photograph by octogenarian William Eggleston, a large composition from the 1970s that fetched $1.4m, double its low estimate.