French street artist Blek le Rat reached a new auction record at Phillips last Friday at the auction house’s “New Now: Modern & Contemporary Art” sale in London. Tango (2021) sold for £95,250 ($118,472), exceeding the artist’s previous auction record of €70,200 ($74,748), which was set in 2016. It was also the eighth most expensive work from the 160-lot sale, which totaled £3.4 million ($4.3 million), with an 86% sell-through rate by lot.
The sale was led by two sculptures, Wade Guyton’s U Sculpture (V. 5) (2007), and Invader’s Bruce Lee 3D (2015), which both sold for £203,200 ($252,740) apiece. The other top lots from the sale are as follows:
- Eddie Martinez’s Open Ocean Mind (2020) sold for £127,000 ($157,963).
- Francis Alÿs’s Untitled (1995) sold for £120,650 ($150,064).
- Juan Genovés’s Mirada al horizonte (2008) sold for £120,650 ($150,064).
- Richard Hambleton’s Horse and Rider (2012) sold for £101,600 (126,370).
As well as Blek le Rat, three artists also achieved new auction records at the sale. These were as follows:
