Raymond Pettibon Leads Phillips $6m 'New Now' Auction in New York

A work by Raymond Pettibon was the headline sale at Phillips 'New Now: Modern & Contemporary Art' auction on September 25 in New York.

• The sale totaled $5.98m, falling short of its pre-sale low estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 114 works sold totaling $5.98m.
• Estimates totaled: $6.79m (low) and $9.63m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 69% of the original 165 lots announced.

The star lot was: Raymond Pettibon, No Title (My purpose in...) (1987), which sold for $374,100, 33% above its $280,000 low estimate. It has not been traded before.

The outperformer sold for 347% above its low estimate. Firelei Baez, Memory Like Fire (2015), sold for $67,100 ($15,000 low estimate). It has been traded once in the past.

• 35 works, or 31%, sold above their high estimate.
• 51 works, or 45%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 28 works, or 25%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

No sales had a guarantee.

Works that did not sell

44 works were bought-in, including: Raymond Pettibon, No Title (Surfer in the...) (1993), estimated at $350,000 (low) to $450,000 (high). It has not been traded before.

Withdrawn before the sale

7 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Raymond Pettibon, No Title, (He (Houdini) has...) (1988) estimated at $120,000 (low) to $180,000 (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. 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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.