Despite the fact that Christie’s has canceled its usual Modern and contemporary art evening auction in London this month, amid economic and political uncertainties ahead of the country’s July 4 general election, it is still an eventful moment for art in the capital city.
This week, Sotheby’s and Phillips are hosting day and evenings sales, Christie’s is doing day sales plus an auction of designer Vivienne Westwood’s personal collection on Tuesday, and the art fairs Eye of the Collector and Treasure House Fair are running.
On Tuesday night, there was no lack of enthusiasm in the salesroom at Sotheby’s London during its Modern and contemporary auction, which included 16 lots from the Ralph I. Goldenberg Collection. Although one of the highlights, Tamara de Lempicka’s stunning oil painting Nu adossé I (1925), which was estimated at £6 million ($7.6 million), was withdrawn, several lots elicited bidding wars from in-person and phone bidders.
Some of the works on the offer were a bargain for individuals with deep pockets. A Paul Klee work on paper, Hitze (Heat), 1940, sold for £456,000 ($576,680), down nearly 35 percent from the £698,500 ($1 million) it made at Christie’s London sale in 2015. And an Achrome (1958–59) wall work by Piero Manzoni sold for £3 million ($4 million), including fees, a deep discount on the $6.2 million it realized in 2021 at Sotheby’s New York.
Below, the story by the numbers.
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Derelict (1982). Courtesy of Sotheby’s.
Total Sales After Fees: £83,618,832 ($105,748,556)
Total Sales of Equivalent Sale Last Year: £190,320,940 ($241,929,227)
Hammer Total: £71,860,000 ($91,165,647)
Top Seller: Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Portrait of the Artist as a Young Derelict (1982), the sale’s cover lot. It sold for £16 million ($20.3 million) including fees. The work was hammered at £15 million, its fees-free low estimate.
Lots on Offer: 54
Lots Withdrawn: 3
Lots Sold: 46
Lots Bought In: 5
Sell-through Rate: 85 percent
Sell-through Rate Excluding Withdrawals: 90 percent
Presale Low Estimate: £76,470,000 ($96,627,492)
Presale Low Estimate After Withdrawals: £69,570,000 ($87,825,863)
Lucy Bull, 10.00 (2021). Courtesy of Sotheby’s.
Hammer Total vs. Presale Low Estimate: -£4,610,000 (-$5,461,845)
Hammer Total vs. Presale Low Estimate (revised after withdrawals): £2,290,000 ($2,891,010)
Lots Guaranteed: 28
Lots With House Guarantees: 26
Lots With Third-Party Guarantees: 17
Total Low Estimate of Withdrawn Lots: £6,900,000 ($8,711,871)
Total Low Estimate of Guaranteed Lots: £40,100,000 ($50,636,275)
Total Low Estimate of Third-Party Guaranteed Lots: £29,400,000 ($37,124,850)
Lasting Memory: It was encouraging to see bidding wars on some lots. Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Bouquet de lilas (1878), for example, only sold after a 10-minute fight. The winner—who will pay £6.9 million ($8.7 million), fees included, and who received applause from the room—was a phone bidder represented by Benjamin Doller, Sotheby’s chairman of the Americas. The work was hitting the auction block for the first time in nearly four decades, and hammered at £5.8 million ($7.4 million), more than double the presale low estimate at £2 million ($2.5 million). Also, seven bidders competed for Lucy Bull’s painting 10.00 (2021), which was hammered at £750,000 ($951,934), nearly double its low estimate of £350,000 ($441,908). With fees, the price was £900,000 ($1.1 million).
Quote of the Night: Helena Newman, Sotheby’s chairman of Sotheby’s Europe and worldwide head of Impressionist and Modern art, brightened up the room with her everything-is-going-to-be-fine smile, taking the gavel from auctioneer Oliver Barker to lead the second part of the auction (after the sale of the Ralph I. Goldenberg Collection). Her pleasant and professional manner kept the action moving at a great pace. Hearing one of the bids on a Renoir painting, Bouquet de lilas, Newman quipped that the work “is not one to give up so easily.” That line also resonates with London’s continued resilience as an art market, despite plenty of headwinds.
Next Sale Up: The Modern and Contemporary Day Sales on Wednesday. An evening auction of Old Masters and 19th-century paintings will be held on Wednesday, July 3.