Auction Results: New Now: Modern & Contemporary Art, December 3, 2025 @Phillips London

It was an uneventful outing for the photography lots included in the New Now: Modern & Contemporary Art sale at Phillips in London last week. The top lot Peter Beard print found a buyer just above its estimate range, and with an overall Buy-In rate for photography under 12% (with one photo withdrawal), even with no positive surprises, the Total Sale Proceeds for photography (of roughly £250K) came in at the middle of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.

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

Summary Statistics
Total Lots 9
Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate £208000
Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate £289000
Total Lots Sold 8
Total Lots Bought In 1
Buy In % 11.11%
Total Sale Proceeds £250260

Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions):

Detailed Breakdown
Low Total Lots 1
Total Low Lots Sold 0
Total Low Lots Bought In 1
Low Buy In % 100.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots £7000
Total Proceeds from Low Lots £0
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 £97000
Total Proceeds from Mid Lots £65790
Total High Lots 3
Total High Lots Sold 3
Total High Lots Bought In 0
High Buy In % 0.00%
Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots £185000
Total Proceeds from High Lots £184470

The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 30, Peter Beard, Gorongosa Lion, Portuguese East Africa, 1955/2007, estimated at £70000-90000; it was also the top photography outcome of the sale at £96750 (image above, via Phillips).

62.50% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were no positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate).

The complete lot by lot results can be found here.

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