Auction Results: 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening and Day Sales, and Out of the Blue: The Enea Righi Collection, April 15 and 16, 2021 @Phillips London

It was a near perfect run for the photography of offer in Phillips’ string of 20th Century & Contemporary Art sales last week. Aside from one Cindy Sherman film still which failed to sell, everything else found a buyer, most above their estimate ranges. When the dust settled, the top lot early Gilbert & George work was the top photography outcome, and with a little help from some frothy interest in a group of recent Gerhard Richter prints, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography (of roughly £1.1M) came in above the high end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.

The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 18
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate £760000
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate £1082000
Total Lots Sold 17
Total Lots Bought In 1
Buy In % 5.56%
Total Sale Proceeds £1149120

Here is the breakdown (using our usual Low, Mid, and High price tier definitions):

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 1
Total Low Lots Sold 1
Total Low Lots Bought In 0
Low Buy In % 0.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots £3000
Total Proceeds from Low Lots £5040
Mid Total Lots 5
Total Mid Lots Sold 5
Total Mid Lots Bought In 0
Mid Buy In % 0.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots £74000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots £94500
Total High Lots 12
Total High Lots Sold 11
Total High Lots Bought In 1
High Buy In % 8.33%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots £10005000
Total Proceeds from High Lots £1049580

The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 33, Gilbert & George, Dusty Corners No. 8, 1975, estimated at £250000-350000; it was also the top photography outcome of the sales at £252000 (image above, via Phillips).

94.12% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there was just 1 positive surprise in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (image above, via Phillips):

Lot 325, Gerhard Richter, Six works: (i) Cage 1; (ii) Cage 2; (iii) Cage 3; (iv) Cage 4; (v) Cage 5; (vi) Cage 6, 2020, estimated at £30000-40000, sold at £176400

The complete lot by lot results can be found here (Evening), here (Righi), and here (Day).

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Read more about: Gerhard Richter, Gilbert and George, Phillips

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