Art Market Analysis - March 2018, London Auction Results
Signs of bullishness in the art market were confirmed by last week’s Impressionist and Modern auction season, and throughout this week, the Post War and Contemporary sector ratified such claims in London.
CHRISTIE’S
Christie’s Evening sale totaled ￡137 million, the highest result for any auction of Post-War and Contemporary art held in Europe. With an excellent BI rate of 8%, the results represented a 43% increment when comparing it with the same category from last year. A blundering auction situation happened once again when Adrian Ghenie’s Study for “The Kaiser Wilhelm Institute” (2011) initially failed to sell and 22 lots later, the auctioneer announced the reopening of the lot arguing that the ultimate buyer had lost the phone connection during the first round. Was this a strategy to bid against the reserve price or an artist’s dealer avoiding a BI on the artist’s record?
SOTHEBY’S
Sotheby’s latest shot in its rivalry with Christie’s was boosted by monumental canvasses by living artists Peter Doig, Gerhard Richter and Christopher Wool. This sale brought a total of ￡109.2 million (after buyer’s fees) with only 6 out of 58 lots going unsold (three of them were withdrawn just before the sale began). According to Colin Gleadell, 11 of the 21 were last minute third-party guarantees arranged 48 hours before the sale. Were these the indicators of low pre-sale levels of interest or unadverted opportunities to buy artworks at a low price? Despite the placement of guarantees, market’s freshness remains as a priority for good auction results. Such is the case of Doig’s The Architect’s Home in the Ravine, which had already appeared twice at Sotheby’s and twice at Christie’s since 2002. It was last sold for ￡11.3m at Christie’s London in February 2016 where it was bought by Sotheby’s vendor here. A lack of interest from the saleroom and phones was noticeable and the star-lot was sold under its low estimate to a member of Sotheby’s staff who evidently placed the bid on behalf of the guarantor.
PHILLIPS
Phillips racked up its highest sale total in the company’s history. Their move to expand deeper into the 20th century is clearly paying off, since only 4 of the 48 lots offered failed to sell, for a trim buy-in rate of 8%. The total of ￡97.8 million exceeds last year's total by almost seven times. Ironically, the most exciting lot of the week was Picasso’s La Dormeuse (1932). Offered in Phillips’ 20th Century & Contemporary sale –without guarantee–, it achieved the biggest sale in the history of the company in any location. Though, Phillips’ actual Contemporary section wasn’t offering strong pieces, its most expensive lots were backed by third-party guarantees and a sale record was broken for Mark Bradford’s colossus canvas.
Click on the image below for the complete report!
