Danish Paintings Shine in Phillips’ $27m Spring Sales

Phillips’ modern and contemporary sales in London this month were led by two Danish artists whose stars—and prices—have been rising: Vilhelm Hammershoi and Anna Ancher.

Hammershoi’s Interior of Woman Placing Branches in Vase on Table (1900), which belonged to John Loeb, the former US ambassador in Denmark, sold for $2.19m with fees. Another atmospheric interior, Ancher’s Young Girl Reading a Letter (1900), fetched a more modest $206,400 with fees but it was still a new auction record for the artist.

Phillips' sales still dipped to a C on the HENI Auction Index, which is based on more than ten data points, down from B in March 2025.

The two sales on March 5 and 7 featured 169 lots in total, in line with the average in Phillips’ previous comparable sales in London. This spring they generated $27.3m in total sales, however, which is 36% less than the auction house's typical revenue in real terms.

The dip in grade was also partly driven by the share of lots hammering above their low or high estimates, which was 30% below typical levels.

Despite this, the average hammer to mid-estimate ratio did improve, back up to 1.3, the average in previous comparable sales. So, on average the works managed to hammer around 30% higher than the average of their pre-sale low and high estimates.

That said, the percentages of lots bought-in or withdrawn increased to 60% above typical.

The percentage of lots with weak guarantees increased to 3% and there were no strong ones.

The average number of bidders per lot also fell to 2.2, one of the lowest levels on record for its spring sales in London.

Bright spots included the new auction record for the Indian artist Lancelot Ribeiro whose expressionist Landscape at Noon (1964) sold for $689,800 with fees, more than five times the low estimate. The sale beat the artist’s previous highest selling work by $620,300, a 800% rise.

Another highlight was a Banksy once owned by the actor Robin Williams and his former wife, Marsha. Happy Choppers(2006), which is number one from an edition of three spray paint and emulsion works on canvas, sold for its high estimate of $2.09m including fees.

Methodology: for how the HENI Auction Index classifies sales, see here.