Phillips Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale Totals $17.07m

A work by Vilhelm Hammershoi, which had a guarantee, was the headline sale at Phillips 'Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale' on March 5 in London.

• The sale totaled $17.07m (GBP12.8m), meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 22 works sold totaling $17.07m.
• Estimates totaled: $16.21m (low) and $22.84m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 76% of the original 29 lots announced.

The star lot was: Vilhelm Hammershoi, Interior of Woman Placing Branches in Vase on Table (Interiør med kvinde, der stiller grene i et glas, Strandgade 30) (1900), which sold for $2.19m, 8% above its $2.02m low estimate. The work was backed by a guarantee. It has been traded 3 times in the past.

The outperformer sold for 411% above its low estimate. Anna Ancher, Young Girl Reading a Letter (Ung pige, der læser et brev) (1902), sold for $206,400 ($40,300 low estimate), a new auction record for the artist. It has been traded 3 times in the past.

• 7 works, or 32%, sold above their high estimate.
• 14 works, or 64%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 1 works, or 5%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Auction record

Anna Ancher, Young Girl Reading a Letter (Ung pige, der læser et brev) (1902), sold for $206,400, which is $12,400 above the artist's previous record sale, a 6% rise.

Guaranteed sales

4 works were backed by guarantees, including: Andy Warhol, Mao (1973). It sold for $2.19m, 16% above its $1.88m low estimate.. It has been traded 6 times in the past.

Works that did not sell

5 works were bought-in, including: Vilhelm Hammershoi, The Church of St. Peter, Copenhagen (Petri Kirke set fra Larslejstræde, København) (1906), estimated at $806,300 (low) to $1.08m (high). It has been traded 6 times in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

2 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Lucy Bull, Tap (2021), estimated at $470,300 (low) to $739,100 (high).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.