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

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.

• 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Withdrawn before the sale

11 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Vaughn Spann, A promise of sunshine after the rain (2021) estimated at $120,000 (low) to $180,000 (high).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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.