Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips take different paths to ‘Sold!’
THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Scott Reyburn
Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips’s latest biannual series of evening auctions of Impressionist, modern and contemporary art, which finished last Thursday, raised a total of $1.1 billion with fees. Despite concerns about a cooling global economy, “Brexit” and fallout from the election of Donald J. Trump, the total was 20 percent higher than the $893.2 million achieved at the equivalent series in May (excluding a $78.1 million themed sale at Christie’s). “I’m very happy, said a smiling François Odermatt, a collector based in Montreal, just before Phillips’s auction last Wednesday. “The more competition the better.” [link]
By Scott Reyburn
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| A view of Christie’s in New York this month, with Willem de Kooning’s “Untitled XXV” at center rear. The work sold for $66.3 million against an estimate of $40 million. Credit Brian Harkin for The New York Times |
