David Hockney leads Sotheby's London contemporary auction at £13.15 million

Sotheby's Contemporary Evening Auction in London on October 9, 2024, achieved £37.6 million, slightly above the pre-sale low estimate of £34 million. The sale featured 22 lots, with David Hockney's 'L'Arbois, Sainte-Maxime' (1968) selling for £13.15 million against a high estimate of £10 million, becoming the top lot. The painting, dedicated to his first love Peter Schlesinger, had previously sold at Sotheby's in 2011. Other notable results include Willem de Kooning's 'Untitled' (1987) at £3.165 million (likely to a third-party guarantor), Christopher Wool's 'Untitled' (2009) at nearly £3 million, and Alexander Calder's 'Quinze Feuilles Noires' (1962) at £2.7 million. Works by Lucian Freud, Bridget Riley, Adrian Ghenie, and Andy Warhol exceeded £1 million, but Warhol's self-portrait and Yoshitomo Nara's 'Broken Heart Bench' (estimated £2.5-3.5 million) remained unsold. Matthew Wong's 'Moonlight Mile' achieved over £1.5 million, and Banksy's customized bulletproof vest 'Vest' (estimate £200,000-300,000) sold for £780,000. The auction coincided with Frieze London at Regent's Park and Christie's evening sale, which also lacked enthusiasm. Phillips' sale was scheduled for October 10.