Andy Warhol Leads Phillips $3.41m 'Evening & Day Editions' Auction in London

A work by Andy Warhol was the headline sale at Phillips 'Evening & Day Editions' auction on September 18-19 in London.

• The sale totaled $3.41m (GBP2.5m), exceeding the pre-sale high estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 252 works sold totaling $3.41m.
• Estimates totaled: $2.28m (low) and $3.31m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 90% of the original 280 lots announced.

The star lot was: Andy Warhol, Details of Renaissance Paintings (Sandro Botticelli, Birth of Venus, 1482) (1984), which sold for $316,800, 93% above its $163,700 low estimate.

The outperformer sold for 543% above its low estimate. Christo, *Pink Store Front, Project, from Marginalia, Homage to Shimizu

• (1980), sold for $13,200 ($2,046 low estimate).

• 153 works, or 61%, sold above their high estimate.
• 76 works, or 30%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 23 works, or 9%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

No sales had a guarantee.

Works that did not sell

27 works were bought-in, including: Pablo Picasso, Buste d'homme (Bust of a Man), plate 4 from La Suite des Saltimbanques (1905), estimated at $81,800 (low) to $109,100 (high). It has not been traded before.

Withdrawn before the sale

1 work was withdrawn before the sale: Roy Lichtenstein, Forms in Space (1985) estimated at $54,600 (low) to $81,800 (high).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. Estimates, sale prices and totals are converted into US dollars. 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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.