Phillips Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale Totals $6.32m

A work by Liu Dan, which had a guarantee, was the headline sale at Phillips 'Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale' on March 29 in Hong Kong.

• The sale totaled $6.32m (HKD49.48m), exceeding the pre-sale high estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 14 works sold totaling $6.32m.
• Estimates totaled: $3.64m (low) and $5.36m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 88% of the original 16 lots announced.

The star lot was: Liu Dan, Dictionary (2011), which sold for $1.47m, 229% above its $446,500 low estimate. The work was backed by a guarantee. It has not been traded before.

The outperformer sold for 261% above its low estimate. Adam Pendleton, Untitled (Days) (2023), sold for $692,300 ($191,400 low estimate). It has been traded twice in the past.

• 8 works, or 57%, sold above their high estimate.
• 5 works, or 36%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 1 works, or 7%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

3 works were backed by guarantees, including: Yayoi Kusama, Sunset Afterglow inside My Heart (2020). It sold for $824,200, 29% above its $637,900 low estimate.. It has been traded once in the past.

Works that did not sell

1 work was bought-in: Huang Yuxing, Full Moon (2017), estimated at $114,800 (low) to $191,400 (high). It has been traded 3 times in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

1 work was withdrawn before the sale: Takashi Murakami, Untitled (2019), estimated at $280,700 (low) to $446,500 (high).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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.