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George Condo Leads Phillips $7.46m 'New Now: Modern & Contemporary Art' Auction in New York

3 min read  ·  27 Sep 2024

Stepmonk's Diary by George Condo sold for $279,400.
Image courtesy of Phillips

Stepmonk's Diary by George Condo sold for $279,400. Image courtesy of Phillips

A work by George Condo was the headline sale at Phillips 'New Now: Modern & Contemporary Art' auction on September 25 in New York.

  • The sale totaled $7.46m, meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

  • 194 works sold totaling $7.46m.
  • Estimates totaled: $7.01m (low) and $10.16m (high), excluding premiums.
  • The sell-through rate was 75% of the original 259 lots announced.

The star lot was: George Condo, Stepmonk's Diary (1996), which sold for $279,400, 39% above its $200,000 low estimate. It has not been traded before.

The outperformer sold for 1170% above its low estimate. Daisy Parris, I'd Rather Get No Sleep Next To You Than Sleep Alone (2022), sold for $254,000 ($20,000 low estimate). It has been traded once in the past.

Breakdown of results against auction house estimates that are disclosed

Breakdown of results against auction house estimates that are disclosed

  • 62 works, or 32%, sold above their high estimate.
  • 80 works, or 41%, sold within their low and high estimate.
  • 52 works, or 27%, sold below their low estimate.
  • 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

No sales had a guarantee.

Works that did not sell

54 works were bought-in, including: Deborah Butterfield, Horse #9 (1982), estimated at $80,000 (low) to $120,000 (high). It has been traded 3 times in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

11 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Vaughn Spann, A promise of sunshine after the rain (2021) estimated at $120,000 (low) to $180,000 (high).

Terms and definitions

All results include the fees and premiums added to the price of a work of art when the auctioneer's hammer falls. Sale prices are compared to the auction house’s low estimate, which do not include premiums.

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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.

Premiums: Typically a sliding-scale of charges paid in addition to the hammer price by the buyer, plus any other fees.