Jun 28, 2024 7:31PM, via Phillips, Christe’s
As London’s summer auction season continues, Phillips’s modern and contemporary art evening and day sale achieved a total of £13 million ($16.5 million), led by George Condo’s Green and Purple Head Composition (2018), which sold for £1 million ($1.28 million). Condo’s current record is HK$53.15 million ($6.85 million), set by Force Field (2010) in 2020 at Christie’s Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, Christie’s post-war to present auction totaled £10.36 million ($13.1 million), with Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s 5am, Cadiz (2009) as the top lot, selling for £567,000 ($729,420). Yiadom-Boakye’s work was also among the top lots at Phillips, where her Minotaur to Matador (2022) sold for £952,500 ($1.2 million). The artist’s current record is £2.95 million ($3.6 million), set by Six Birds in the Bush (2015) in 2023 at Sotheby’s.
These totals reflect a continued trend of moderate results at London’s summer sales, most evident recently at Sotheby’s evening auction on Tuesday, which had a result that was 55.86% below the equivalent sale last year.
These latest sales at Phillips and Christie’s garnered underwhelming totals in a similar vein to 2023 summer sales. Both last year and this year, on the whole, the sales brought in results within estimates, with many of the top lots leaning toward the lower end. However, at Christie’s this year, several lots from new names far surpassed their estimates, adding a spark of excitement to the otherwise temperate sales.
Phillips’s only new auction record set during this sale was for British artist Wolfe von Lenkiewicz’s Garden of Earthly Delights (2012) triptych, which sold for £88,900 ($112,361), exceeding its estimate of £40,000 to £60,000 ($50,400 to $75,600).
Though the top lots at Christie’s were relatively lackluster, several ultra-contemporary artists’ works, including some auction debuts, achieved notable success.
- Daniel Crews Chubb, Yasigi and Beast (2018) sold for £74,340 ($93,670), exceeding its estimate of £20,000–£30,000 ($25,200–$37,800). This set a new auction record, which was previously $88,200, set by Yasigi (2017) at Phillips in June 2021.
- Sophia Loeb, Eu Descanso Através Da Sua Paz (I Rest Through Your Peace) (2024) sold for £60,480 ($76,200), smashing its estimate of £4,000–£6,000 ($5,040–$7,560). This sale marks the artist’s auction debut.
- Alia Ahmad, Windflower (2021) sold for £46,620 ($58,660), surpassing its estimate of £10,000–£15,000 ($12,600 to $18,900). The artist’s current auction record of £101,600 ($124,000) was set by Malga, The Place in Which we Gather (2022) at Phillips London in March 2024.
- Daisy Parris, Pink at Night (2020) sold for £35,280 ($44,460), smashing its estimate of £6,000–£8,000 ($7,560–$10,080). This is the artist’s auction debut.
- Clementine Keith Roach, Icon (2019) sold for £28,980 ($36,600), well above its estimate of £8,000 to £12,000 ($10,000 to $15,100).
