Sotheby’s and Christie’s Auction Houses
New York City, New York
This week Sotheby’s and Christie’s held their first design sales of 2010 on back-to-back days in New York City. These were not major sales of important design, but they should be seen as a potential preview of the climate for this year’s collecting market.
Phillips de Pury & Company
New York
Phillips de Pury & Company’s latest themed sale, NOW: Art of the 21st Century, took place on the 6th of March in New York with interesting results. These themed sales from Phillips offer a varied alternative to traditional auctions that focus on one particular medium, and the results are proving to be as mixed as the lots up for grabs.
Sotheby’s
York Street, New York
On the 17th of December, Sotheby’s New York held back-to-back design sales, which yielded some surprising results. The morning sale of the Collection of Robert Isabell brought in a total of $2,625,627 selling 121 of the 128 lots up for grabs, while the afternoon sale of Important 20th Century Design earned nearly double that of the morning sale with a total of $4,581,626 selling only 94 of its 128 lots.
Wright
W Hubbard, Chicago
Wright’s latest sale of Important Design finished with decent, but fairly unimpressive results this week selling only 204 of their available 404 lots for a total of $2,463,503 including the buyer’s premium.
Sotheby’s
Rue du Faubourg Saint Honore, Paris
Sotheby’s attempt to take advantage of the current trend for mid-century masterpieces finished with strong, but less than thrilling results on Wednesday afternoon in Paris. Their sale of significant Art Deco works brought it a total of €3,038,750 selling 55 of the available 79 lots.
Phillips de Pury & Company
London
Phillips de Pury & Company’s innovative MUSIC themed sale brought in a total of £1,216,438 last Saturday in London. The results are far from thrilling with only 142 of the available 231 lots selling, but the design items faired well; each sold for well within or above its pre-sale estimate.
Sotheby’s
Rue du Faubourg Saint Honore, Paris
Taking advantage of the current trend for mid-century masterpieces, Sotheby’s is hosting a sale of significant Art Deco works at their offices in Paris on the 25th of November.
Phillips de Pury & Company, New York
This past Saturday, on the 14th of November, Phillips de Pury & Company’s Auction of 20th century and contemporary design brought in a total of $3,589,750 selling 117 out of the available 155 lots.
On October 15th in London, Philips de Pury & Company’s Auction of 20th century and contemporary design brought in a total of £1,229,013.
NOW: Art of the 21st Century, the inaugural sale in Phillips de Pury & Company’s new series of themed auctions, took place this past Saturday in London. This marked the first time pieces of contemporary design were included in a major sale alongside works of fine art and photography, and they fared impressively well.
Although Sunday’s ambitious auction broke no records it did offer a fresh new approach to the contemporary design auction.
Building on the success of their recent April London Design sale, Phillips de Pury & Company’s June 3rd Auction faired quite well, maintaining the perception that the design market continues to hold its own in this volatile economy.
With 89 of the 128 lots going to buyers, for a total of $2,141,250 the auction was just shy of its lower-end pre-sale estimate of $2.7M
Yesterday’s Important Design sale at Wright was not the most remarkable session in history, with only 51% of the works on offer managing to sell. However, Wright did pull through with a few remarkable sales and a respectable, albeit uninspiring, $2,366,361 final tally – a far cry from last year’s equivalent sale which totaled $5,867,151.
There were likely many collectors paying close attention to the results of the April 30th design auction at Phillips de Pury & Company in London.
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