The Philips evening sale in New York, dedicated to modern artists, managed to only collect $69.5 million.
The sale included all modern artists – from the 20th century till date. A total of 37 works went on the auction block, but only 33 managed to get a buyer (with one work withdrawn before the sale began). Ten works were already backed by third-party guarantees, including works by Simon Leigh. The evening sale lasted an hour and a half, and was helmed by the London-based auctioneer at Philips, Henry Highley.
By the end of the night, the sale had only managed to collect a total of $56.4 million. This was significantly lower than the pre-sale estimates of $63.2 million – $91 million. Including fees, the total came to $69.5 million. This figure was massively lower than the similar evening sale Philips organized last year, which collected a whopping $226 million. The figure was less than in 2021 too, where the sale managed to bring in $118 million. While the market seemed strong by the end of last year and the impact of Covid-19 was considered over, experts see this sale as a sign of a slowing art market.
Among the modest numbers, Banksy emerged as the top dog whose work sold for $9.7 million (though not crossing the usual $10 million+ mark). A painting by Pablo Picasso was sold for $7.3 million, while a Roy Lichtenstein painting fetched $5.5 million. Andy Warhol has been out of the limelight in all major auctions this year, and Philips was no exception. A single Warhol work appeared at the auction – a 1973 collage of 4 Mona Lisa prints – that was sold for $1.9 million.
