Lets Not Forget Phillips Contemporary Evening Art Sale

Strange how you can say an auction which totaled $131 million in sales was not a big event, but when compared to Christie's $745 million sale and Sotheby's $364 million sale you do lose some interest and market buzz.

Phillips auctions ended the contemporary art sales week with 46 lots offered and 37 selling, for a respectable buy through rate of 80.4%.  The sale totaled $131 million including buyers premiums, and was just above the $124.6 million total pre sale low estimate.

The top selling lot was a Rothko,  “Untitled (Red, Blue, Orange),” from 1955 and sold for $56.1 million with buyer premiums.  The painting was thought to be owned by collector Paul Allen.

The NY Times reported on the Phillips contemporary evening sale.

After three consecutive nights of contemporary art auctions, the die-hards turned out for a fourth and final helping, which took place at Phillips, the smaller, third-place auction house.

The draw was not so much for brand-name artists, who brought unremarkable prices on Thursday. Instead, buyers went for today’s rising stars, whose work has the potential to skyrocket in value.

By the evening’s end, Phillips sold nearly $131 million, above its low $124.6 million estimate. Of the 46 works on offer, nine failed to sell.

Packing the Phillips headquarters at Park Avenue and 57th Street were veteran collectors like Donald and Mera Rubell of Miami, Stefan Edlis of Chicago and David Ganek, the former New York hedge-fund manager. Leonardo DiCaprio sat in a skybox above the salesroom, with a cap pulled down tight over his forehead.

The evening’s top seller was one of Rothko’s abstract canvases — “Untitled (Red, Blue, Orange),” from 1955 — which went to an unidentified telephone bidder for $50 million, or $56.1 million with fees. And although the owner was not identified, dealers familiar with the work said it was from the collection of Paul Allen, a co-founder of Microsoft. Mr. Allen had bought the painting at Christie’s in 2007 for $34.2 million. Before the auction, experts at Phillips said they estimated it would bring around $50 million.

(Final prices include the buyer’s commission to Phillips: 25 percent of the first $100,000; 20 percent of the next $100,000 to $2 million; and 12 percent of the rest. Estimates do not reflect commissions.)

The evening was filled with paintings by Basquiat and Warhol, and even an example of the two artists’ working together. “Zenith,” a 1985 collaboration, melded Basquiat’s graffiti figures (a skull, angry black faces, a she-goat) and Warhol’s pop culture references (a 50 percent off sign, a sports car). It was expected to sell for $10 million to $15 million, and went to a lone telephone bidder for $11.3 million.

Source: The NY Times