Wendy Hilty's 1958 portrait of Lena Horne, from album cover "Give the Lady What She Wants" sold for $1,088

By Mackie Healy, Art Market Views, Contributor

Buoyed by fans seeking mementos, the estate of singer Lena Horne fetched $315,976 at Doyle yesterday, more than double pre-sale projections. All 199 lots on offer found buyers.

The sale’s expected top lot, a Charles Henry Alston painting titled Abstract fetched a mere $20,000, below the pre-sale estimate of $30,000 -$50,000.

Horne’s personal items, tagged with low estimates, propelled the total.

A Louis Vuitton trunk, with emblazoned with stickers printed “Lena Horne Hayton,” estimated up to $700, sold for a $20,000. Horne’s Giorgio di Sant’ Angelo reversible mink fetched $8,125, more than sixteen times the $500 high estimate. A size four bright red matte jersey dress by the designer, which was predicted to fetch up to $150, sold for $2,250.

Photos also fared well. A 1941 picture of the actress in profile by Carl Van Vechten sold for $3,438, while a vampy portrait of Horne in a red dress by Wendy Hilty (taken for the cover of her 1958 album Give the Lady What She Wants) brought in $1,088, against a $100 high estimate.