New York Sales Go Pop With Lichtenstein

Christie’s scored a home run in the New York mid-season sales and Sotheby’s completed a hat trick of Lichtenstein sales but hopes the market may be picking up come with a caveat. Phillips’ results continued a downward trend.

Both Christie’s and Sotheby’s scored an A on the HENI Auction Index, the latter thanks to the third of its special collection sales of works owned by Dorothy and Roy Lichtenstein. Both auction houses saw a marked improvement on their most recent comparable sales in February this year.

Phillips' score fell from a C to a D, however. Its disappointing performance will strike a note of caution about the market rebounding, especially for works by younger and mid-career artists.

The HENI Auction index is a unique algorithm that benchmarks auction performance based on 10+ metrics. A broad range of metrics gives a clearer view of performance over time than the standard measurement of auction success based on total sales and sell-through rate.

Auction grades

Christie’s “Post-War to Present” sale on September 30 saw a rebound driven in particular by its growth in size. The total number of lots and total sales were 30% higher than in past comparable sales.

Also, a significantly higher percentage of lots hammered above the low and high estimates, including Sam Gilliam's Last September II (1973), which sold for $1.78m, more than twice the low estimate.

Sotheby’s A-grade, white-glove Lichtenstein sale on September 26 was led by the artist’s 1988 work Reflections: Wimpy I. which sold for $2.86m. It was backed by a guarantee and sold for 185% above its $1m low estimate.

If the Lichtensteins’ collection is excluded, Sotheby’s scored a C with its “Contemporary Curated” sale held the same day, underlining the importance of high-profile, single-collection sales.

Phillip’s "New Now" sale on September 25 saw a fall in sales total and number of lots, both down a third on comparable sales, and a rise in the percentage of works bought-ins and withdrawn. The number of new artists’ auction records was down 40% on previous comporable sales, a key metric for auctions aimed at introducing emerging and mid-career names to a wider range of collectors.

After last month’s A+ sale of Pauline Karpidas' collection at Sotheby’s, the main takeaway from it and New York’s mid-season sales is that in a sticky market, single-collection auctions are king.

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