Displaying items by tag: Phillips de Pury

Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary auction edged out Sotheby’s as the blockbuster sale of the week. Profits reached a walloping $412,253,100 on Wednesday night in New York and only six of the 73 lots went unsold. Beating the pre-sale estimate of $289,350,000-$411,800,000, the auction was the second highest grossing in Christie’s history. The record is currently held by the November 2006 Impressionist and Modern sale that brought $491.5 million. However, last night’s auction was the highest earning sale for the Post-War and Contemporary category to date.

During the course of the sale seven artist records were set and six works sold for over $20 million. Brett Gorvy, Chairman and International head of Post-War and Contemporary Art said, “We curated the sale around the rich variety of quality works and most coveted artists.” Works by these big name artists proceeded to sell for mind-bogglingly astronomical prices.

Andy Warhol’s iconic portrait of Marlon Brando, titled Marlon, (1966) sold for $23,714,500, Roy Lichtenstein’s interior Nude with Red Shirt (1995) brought $28,082,500, and Franz Kline’s seminal Abstract Expressionist painting, Untitled (1957) sold for a record $40,402,500. Other major sales included Warhol’s 3-D Statue of Liberty (1962) that went for $43,762,500, Mark Rothko’s Black Stripe (Orange, Gold and Black) that sold to a telephone bidder for $21,362,500, and Jeff Koons’ stainless steel Tulips (1995-2004) that brought $33,682,500, a new record for the artist. Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Untitled (1981) was expected to bring in big numbers and did not disappoint at $26,402,500, but the piece stayed under its high estimate of $30 million.

Contemporary sales continue tonight at Phillips de Pury.

Phillips de Pury's decision to open, rather than close, the London contemporary auction season this evening, and with bigger ticket works in a new central location, paid off. Its pared-down catalogue (31 lots) sold for £11.2m (est £10m-£14.5m) with a sell-through rate of 87%, which must have been a refreshing turn of events for auctioneer Simon de Pury. The auction house's equivalent sale last year made £4m, well below expectations, and with nearly half the works (47%) unsold.

“It was a very strong sale for them. They've found a great niche in the [auction] market for younger artists and it seems to be working,” said dealer Paolo Vedovi, who had bid on Wade Guyton's three-legged inkjet “X” painting, Untitled, 2007 (this went for £205,250, est £150,000-£250,000). The auction house also had great success in February with Guyton when New York dealer Stellen Holm, bought a 2001 “X” painting for £213,650 (est £50,000-£70,000).

Other sought-after emerging artists did well. An untitled 2009 work by this year's brightest young thing, Jacob Kassay, unsurprisingly went past its £50,000-£70,000 estimate to sell over the telephone for £145,250. Bidding was lively, both via the telephones and in the saleroom, but was less fierce than in the auction house's May evening sale in New York (where another 2009 silver deposit work by Kassay went for $290,500 against an estimate of $60,000-$80,000). Nevertheless, with his work selling for around £15,000-£20,000 in the primary market, the heat has yet to leave Kassay's market at auction.

Phillips' catalogue included bigger-ticket items than in recent sales: works in the low tens of thousands have been common, while tonight the £50,000-£70,000 Kassay was one of the lowest-estimated items. This more confident approach paid off, despite ambitious estimates, and the auction house achieved two significant artist records in its evening sale: for Beatriz Milhazes, whose O Moderno, 2002 went for £713,250 (already estimated to make a record at £650,000-£750,000) and Ugo Rondinone, whose white tree sculpture, Get Up Girl a Sun Is Running the World, 2006, went for £541,250 (est £200,000-£300,000). Both went to telephone bidders.

“It's exactly the sort of work that people want at the moment, to put in a big empty Georgian house that's has been redecorated with white walls and no furniture,” said New York private dealer and collector, David Nisinson, of the Rondinone. He himself bought Cecily Brown's I Will Not Paint Any More Boring Leaves (2), 2004 for £529,250 (est £350,000-£450,000). “I was pleased, I thought it could have gone for more,” he said after the sale.

Phillips de Pury & Co. scored its second-highest tally ever for a contemporary art sale in New York last night, boosted by a hot property from hedge-fund manager Steven Cohen.

The founder and chairman of SAC Capital Advisors LP consigned Andy Warhol’s portrait of Elizabeth Taylor, and the late screen idol was the star of the evening’s 50-lot sale.

With two telephone bidders dueling for the work, the 40- inch-square 1963 canvas titled “Liz #5” fetched $26.9 million, falling within its target range of $20 million to $30 million.

The sale brought in $98.8 million, close to the low end of the forecast $84.5 million to $121.4 million, and 22 percent of the lots failed to sell. Still, the total was more than double the boutique auction house’s tally of a year ago.

“They are definitely the underdog and they are hanging in there. It’s remarkable,” said Wendy Cromwell, New York art adviser, comparing Phillips with much bigger players Sotheby’s (BID) and Christie’s International.

In “Liz #5,” the legendary actress, who died in March, is depicted with a clownlike red mouth and turquoise eye shadow that matches the background. The painting used to belong to the influential art dealer Ileana Sonnabend. Six months after her death in October 2007, her heirs sold the work to the Gagosian gallery along with other Warhols from her collection.

A Maurice de Vlaminck landscape from Cohen’s collection sold at Christie’s last week for $22.5 million. Together the two works brought in $49.4 million.

Another 1963 turquoise “Liz” appeared on the market in 2007. Consigned by actor Hugh Grant, it fetched $23.6 million at Christie’s in New York.

More Warhol

Warhol accounted for four of the top 10 lots; in addition, his collaboration with Jean-Michel Basquiat titled “Third Eye” was the third-priciest piece at $7 million, more than double its $3 million high estimate.