Auction Analysis: New York Post-War & Contemporary Day Auctions – May 2017
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NEW YORK POST-WAR & CONTEMPORARY DAY AUCTIONS – MAY 2017
The post-war and contemporary art day sales in New York last week raised a total of $152,081,500 (excluding buyer’s premium), against a pre-sale estimate of $144,422,000 to $206,766,000. The result from Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips was 26.4% higher than in May 2016, and 23.1% above the November results last year.
Phillips held the first day sale of the auction week in New York, ahead of their own evening sale, with a 184 lot strong sale with their 20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale on the 17th of May, which came in at a total sales value of $15 million for 149 sold lots. The result was just short of the low end of the pre-sale estimate range ($15.2 million to $21.7 million but 79.3% above their sale total in May 2016. Last week’s auction result was the highest for a Phillips day sale since 2012.
This was followed by Christie’s with its Post-War & Contemporary Art Day Sale on the 18th of May. The auction achieved a hammer total of $61.2 million. This was below the pre-sale estimate range of $70.3 million to $101.7 million, and down 8.8% from their sale total in May 2016.
Sotheby’s finished the week with a $75.8 million sale on the 19th of May, ending in the upper band of the pre-sale estimate range of $59.0 million to $83.3 million. Sotheby’s result was up 62.9% from May 2016.