Nathaniel Mary Quinn's Over Yonder (2015) Image courtesy of Phillips
It was the fresher names in the saleroom that brought animation to Phillips Contemporary Evening Sale last night, with the first six lots sailing over their estimates and drawing a much-needed buzz to Londons auctions this week.
The pacey start kicked off with Brooklyn-based Simone Leighs Shower Cap (2013) trouncing its pre-sale high estimate with a £140,000 hammer price (£175,000 with fees; estimate £40,000-£60,000). This was promptly followed by the arresting Over Yonder (2015) by Nathaniel Mary Quinn (the artists first appearance at auction), which left its own meagre £60,000 high estimate behind and hammered in at £170,000 (£212,500 with fees). Works by Derek Fordjour, Sanya Kantarovsky, Tschabalala Self and Tomoo Gokita consolidated the promising start.
“Its a clear message that the market is there for relevant, well-priced pieces which respond to collecting trends,” says Olivia Thornton, who was appointed as Head of 20th Century and Contemporary Art Europe for the auction house just earlier this year.
Alex Katz, Blue Umbrella I (1972) sold for £3.4m, a record for the artist Image courtesy of Phillips
A wave of auction records was headlined by Alex Katzs Blue Umbrella I (1972) which fetched £2.8m (£3.4m with fees; est of £800,000-£1.2m), with others for Leigh, Fordjeur, Kantarovksy and Raoul De Keyser. Hurvin Andersons Beaver Lake (1998), from his graduate show at the Royal College of Art, was another top performer with brisk phone and room bids eventually reaching £1.8m (£2.2m with fees).
“The ethos of Frieze week has always been about discoveries,” says the London-based advisor Nazy Vassegh. “[The sales] mix of lesser-known artists and accessible price points hit this note perfectly.”
Gerhard Richter's Abstraktes Bild (1994) Image courtesy of Phillips
Bidding became more measured but remained deep and internationalRead More – Source
