Warhol’s Sixteen Jackies Drives Strong Week at Phillips

3 min read · 02 Jun 2026

Andy Warhol's Sixteen Jackies (1964) sold for $16.23m with fees at Phillips. Image courtesy of Phillips.

Andy Warhol’s Sixteen Jackies stole the show at Phillips' marquee sales in May. Even though his classic 1964 silkscreen of the First Lady in mourning sold for less than it did only three years ago in New York.

Then it fetched almost $26m with fees. Last month it sold for $16.23m and it was backed by a guarantee.

Phillips’ evening auction on May 21 totaled $115.2m. When its afternoon and morning sales totals were added, the auction house’s turnover was $145m with fees.

While a fraction of Christie’s and Sotheby’s sales, $1.5 billion and $909m respectively, Phillips outperformed its rivals on the HENI Auction Index, scoring an A-.

Phillips scored an A- on the HENI Auction Index, an improvement on its sales in May and November 2025.

Phillips saw a significant improvement on the C+ it scored 12 months ago and again last November.

That said, total sales revenue when adjusted for inflation was nearly 10% below the average of comparable sales, while the number of lots on offer was more than 5% above the average.

The share of works selling above their low estimate was nearly 8 percentage points above the norm but the percentage of works exceeding their high estimates was broadly in line with the average in past comparable sales.

The Warhol from his Jackie series had what can be described as a "weak" guarantee as it sold for near its low estimate. Overall, the share of works with weak guarantees was less than 1 percentage point below the norm, strong guarantees were also slightly below the norm by the same margin.

The percentage of works bought-in or withdrawn were 6 percentage points and 1.5 percentage points respectively below the norm, so both were positive metrics.

However, the three new artists’ records were well below the average of around 14 in past comparable sales. Joseph Yaeger’s There is a light and it always goes out (2021) was among the record breaking sales. It went for $477,300 with fees, soaring above its low estimate.

Another standout result came from Pat Passlof’s Fortune (1960), which set a new record at $580,500 with fees. Passlof contributed to an outstanding week for New York School artists in the city, albeit still overshadowed by her male contemporaries.

Total sales revenue when adjusted for inflation was nearly 10% below the average of comparable sales, while the number of lots on offer was more than 5% above the average.