Phillips Spring Auction Nets $115.2M, Doubles Last Year's Result

Phillips' marquee spring auction in New York on Tuesday achieved a sold-out result, bringing in a hammer total of $91.73 million ($115.2 million with fees), more than double the equivalent sale a year ago. The sale, held at Phillips' Park Avenue location, saw strong bidding across all channels, with 21 of 41 lots backed by guarantees. The top lot was Andy Warhol's "Sixteen Jackies" (1964), which sold for $13.5 million ($16.2 million with fees) to a client of Scott Nussbaum. Other top lots included Claude Monet's "La Route de Vétheuil, effet de neige" (1879) at $7.5 million ($9.9 million with fees) and Jackson Pollock's "Untitled" (around 1948) at $7.4 million ($9.1 million with fees). The Pollock had previously failed to sell in November 2024 due to a guarantor default. Fierce bidding occurred for contemporary artists with tightly controlled primary markets, such as Salman Toor, Cecily Brown, and Anna Weyant. A Lee Bontecou pastel-on-canvas set a record for her two-dimensional works at $3.3 million ($4.2 million with fees). Works from the collection of John Loeb Jr., including a P.S. Krøyer self-portrait that doubled its estimate, and from the Lee and Tina Hills collection, featuring Joan Mitchell and Helen Frankenthaler, also performed well. Pat Passlof and Joseph Yaeger set new auction records. Phillips chairman Robert Manley commented, "The market is alive and well." The sale's total represents a 67.4% increase from last November and a 107.5% improvement year-over-year.