Banksy Leads Phillips 20th Century & Contemporary $22.35m Sale

Discover key data points, top sellers and talking points at Phillips 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale on October 13, 2023.

All sales results are hammer prices plus premiums.

Auction breakdown

• The sale totalled: $22.35m.
• Pre-sale estimates (excluding premiums): $21.43m (low) and $29.46m (high).
• The sell-through rate was 83% of the pre-sale 46 lots.
• 38 works sold in the auction.

The top lot by value was: Banksy, Forgive Us Our Trespassing (2011), which had a guarantee and sold for $3.3m, 23% above estimate. The spray painted on plywood work, acquired directly from the artist, has not been traded before.

• 14 works, or 30%, of works sold above their high estimate.
• 23 works, or 50%, sold within their estimate.
• 1 work, or 2%, sold below their low estimate.

Guaranteed works

2 works had a guarantee.

Guaranteed works included:

Henri Matisse, Grand Nu accroupi (Olga) (1909-10, cast 1952), which sold for $803,000, 21% above estimate. The bronze has been traded 5 times in the past.

Bought-in

2 works were bought-in.

Bought-in works included: Balthus, Étude pour ‘Le Peintre et son modèle’ (1977) estimated at $341,200 (low) to $487,500 (high). It has been traded 9 times in the past.

Bought-in works had a total estimated value of: $645,900 (low) to $914,000 (high).

Withdrawn

6 works were withdrawn before the sale.

Withdrawn works included: Lucio Fontana, Concetto spaziale, Attese (1964) estimated at $1.71m (low) to $2.19m (high)

Withdrawn works had a total estimated value of $4.51m (low) to $6.09m (high).

$645,900 (low) and $914,000 (high) total estimates, of works brought in.

Talking point

Francesca Mollett, Two Thistles (2021), which sold for $309,210, 930% above estimate. It has been traded once in the past.

Auction jargon

Guarantees: Sometimes an auction house guarantees to pay a seller for a work, regardless of whether the bidding reaches the reserve price, a figure that is typically confidential.

Bought-in: If there are no bids for a work, or if bidding falls short of the reserve price, the lot is unsold or “bought-in”.

Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.