Sotheby's week-long online sale "Contemporary Discoveries" closed in New York on October 8 with a $6.25 million total, built around the collection of Bob Monk, the longtime Gagosian director and quiet market force who died at 75. Of 277 works offered, 93 - about a third - sold above their high estimates, though 49 lots went unsold and eight were withdrawn before bidding began. The sale's star was Ed Ruscha's 2001 painting "Red Sky", which brought $537,600, roughly 115 percent over its $250,000 low estimate, in what was reported as its first appearance at auction. The result led a sale weighted toward postwar and contemporary American art of the kind Monk had handled and collected across decades at the center of the New York gallery world. Not all sections held up: Manolo Valdes's "La Banda Negra (Felipe IV)" (1984), estimated at $120,000 to $180,000, was bought in, and Hilary Pecis's "Sculpture Court" (2017), expected to fetch $100,000 to $150,000, was withdrawn before the sale. Among the four works backed by guarantees, Mike Bidlo's "Ma Jolie" (1987) sold for $32,000, 60 percent over its low estimate, after having changed hands three times before. The split result - strong prices for the Ruscha alongside 35 percent of lots hammering below their low estimates - captures a mid-tier online market that remains selective rather than broad. Bidders from multiple regions participated in the online format, extending the sale's reach well beyond the saleroom. For estates like Monk's, the message is that top-quality, fresh-to-market works still command aggressive competition while ordinary material struggles to find buyers.