Phillips staged the lead-off and unprecedented Sunday evening sale in New York, marking a crowded week of hopefully high-yield 20th-century and beyond auctions, turning in a decent though hardly electrifying $66,894,000 result.Nine of the 51 lots offered in the freshly titled and hybrid “20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale” went unsold for a crisp buy-in rate by lot of 18 percent. The tally just nicked the low-end of pre-sale expectations of $64.4-93.65 million, though that figure includes added on fees. Twenty-four of the 42 lots that sold made over a million dollars. Two artist records were set.The tally easily exceeded last November’s $51.9 million contemporary sale for the 39 lots that sold, although this auction, apart from the novelty of taking place on a Sunday evening, also included earlier, 20th-century material, so the comparison isn’t a perfect match.Phillips wisely chose the Sunday evening slot, in part by pressure from market leader Christie’s after it scheduled three evening sales in a single week, including its Impressionist & Modern sale on Thursday evening, Phillips’ normal slot. The weekend sale offered a way for the boutique house to strut its offerings with more breathing room.All prices reported reflect the hammer price plus the tacked on buyer’s premium for each lot sold, calculated at 25 percent of the hammer price up to and including $100,000, 20 percent of the portion of the hammer price above $100,000 and up to and including $2 million, and 12 percent of the remaining portion above $2 million. Estimates do not reflect those commissions.Also on the financial front, Phillips’ guaranteed or partnered with outside third parties for 24 of the evening offerings, representing an overall estimate of $42.9-70.1 million. Of that heady mix, 15 were outright guarantees, representing $18.1-34.7 million, and nine were third party combinations, ranging from $24.7-35.35 million. The house definitely lost money on a number of its solo bets, which seem part and parcel of the current auction scene, with nervous sellers insisting on the insurance of a guarantee before putting their art at auction.The sale jumped off to a vibrant start with Yayoi Kusama’s densely patterned, six-foot square “Infinity Nets OPRT” painting from 2004, which sold to a telephone bidder for $1,325,000 (est. $700-900,000). The Kusama last sold at Christie’s New York in May 2010 for $302,500. It was backed by a Phillips’ guarantee, meaning no matter how it fared in the salesroom, the seller would receive an undisclosed amount for the work, usually pegged at around the low estimate. Since the Kusama performed well, exceeding its high estimate, the house presumably made a nice profit beyond the buyer’s premium, part of the cost to sellers associated with securing a guarantee.Marisol’s Pop Art infused sculpture “Couple No. 1,” from 1965-66 and executed in wood, painted wood, fabric, electric motor, and mixed-media, realized $461,000 (est. $400-600,000). It was also backed by a Phillips’ guarantee. The carved and painted forms also had a white fabric funnel attached to the mouth of one of the figures, blowing out an unending stream of hot air. It debuted in the artist’s solo show at the Sidney Janis Gallery in 1966.Though backed by a guarantee, John Chamberlain’s brawny wall relief “Bullwinkle” from 1961 and comprised of painted and chromium-plated steel sourced from car parts found in body shops and landfills, in the same private collection since 1967, went unsold (est. $2.5-3.5 million).Shortly after the sale, Edward Dolman, CEO and chairman of Phillips, said of the Chamberlain, “We were surprised the Chamberlain didn’t sell.” He added: “The big takeaway for us this evening, there was very discerning bidding.”On the brighter side, another guaranteed lot, an important Michelangelo Pistoletto, “Gruppo di persone” from 1962, delicately executed in graphite on tissue paper on mirror-polished steel and mounted to canvas, sold to an otherwise unidentified bidder in the room, decked out in a black baseball cap and seated next to New York dealer Christophe van de Weghe, for $2,405,000 (est. $1.5-2.5 million). New York art advisor Amy Cappellazzo was the underbidder.A large-scale (101 by 137 inches) and richly stained Color Field painting by Morris Louis, “Para IV” from 1959, realized in magna on canvas, brought a thinly bid $2,285,000 (est. $2-3 million).Another space challenging work, Donald Judd’s pristine “Untitled (4 Units, 89-49 Ballantine) from 1989 and fabricated in Douglas fir plywood sold to London dealer Fernando Mignoni for $1,085,000 (est. $1-1.5 million). It came to market “naked,” meaning without a financial guarantee. It last sold at auction at Christie’s New York in the single owner “Select Works from the Donald Judd Foundation” in May 2006 for $632,000.Other American artist stars included the Pop Art infused work of Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, whose “Leaning Fork with Meatball & Spaghetti II” from 1994, fabricated in polyurethane on cast aluminum, sold for $365,000 (est. $350-500,000).Fellow Pop Art icon Roy Lichtenstein was represented in the sale by the sharply colored and outlined 48 by 36 inch “Face” from 1986, which sold to New York/LA art advisors Guggenheim/Asher Associates for $1,565,000. It last sold at Christie’s New York in November 2009 for $965,000.The priciest offering of the evening, Willem de Kooning’s juicy abstraction “Untitled XXVIII” from 1977 and scaled in the relatively small format for the series at 60 by 54 inches, took the top lot at $11,365,000 (est. $10-15 million). It carried the pre-sale insurance of a third party guarantee, according to the symbol printed in the catalogue.After the sale, CEO Dolman declared the de Kooning did not go the third party guarantor, meaning the painting elicited more interest and bidding beyond that bottom line guarantee.The evening also included a number of earlier 20th-century spawned works, including the macho and muscled Giorgio de Chirico painting “Gladiateurs au repos” from 1928-29, featuring five curly-haired he-men posed in lion cloths or less. It made an anemic $3,973,000 and came armed with a Phillips’ guarantee (est. $4-6 million). The painting was part of a group of gladiator compositions and other works originally commissioned by de Chirico’s dealer, the storied Paris avant garde gallerist Leonce Rosenberg, and hung in his Paris apartment for many years before the armed group was dispersedIn that same classical vein, Le Corbusier’s Modernist composition replete with Surrealist references and a chunky bit of Matisse-like elements in some of its details, “Femme rouge et pelote verte” from 1932, sold to a telephone bidder for a record $4,645,000 (est. $4-6 million). It was sold by the Heidi Weber Museum Collection, also known as the Centre Le Corbusier, based in Zurich where it was housed in Le Corbusier’s last major piece of architecture, dating from 1967 and specifically designed to house his artworks and designs. It was also backed by a third party guarantee.Alexander Calder was also represented with a suitably striking stabile, “Untitled” from 1941, comprised of painted sheet metal, rod, and wire, which made $3,973,000 (est. $3.5-4.5 million). It last sold at auction at Christie’s New York in November 2000 for $908,000.Jean Dubuffet’s late but still wildly energetic “Paysage au chateau (avec 3 personnages)” from 1975 sold for a torrid $1,349,000 (est. $600-800,000). Joe Nahmad was the underbidder.The reception was not as convincing for Christopher Wool’s flower and fleurs-de-lies patterned abstraction in enamel on aluminum, “Untitled (P271)” from 1997, which sold to a telephone bidder for $3,189,000 (est. $3-4 million). It was propped up by a third party guarantee and needed it. It last sold at Phillips London in February 2013 for $2,581,783.One problem with going first in a crowded field is that potential bidders can sit on their hands, waiting for another opportunity. It kind of felt that way tonight at Philips.Phillips appears to be experimenting with the relatively undefined category of modern and contemporary, shedding, it would seem, its long-held position as a spot-lit stage for emerging or just spawned artists in the market.“All of our modern and early Post-War works sold,” said Hugues Joffre, the evening’s auctioneer and newly hired chairman, UK and Europe. It was his first auction taken on New York soil and the Frenchman seemed to enjoy what action he could coax out of the crowded salesroom on Park Avenue and East 57th Street.The sale included some younger stars, as evidenced by Wade Guyton’s flame infused composition “Untitled” from 2005, printed out in Epson UltraChrome inkjet on linen, which sold to London dealer Inigo Philbrick for $2,405,000 (est. $2-3 million).“It was an aggressive estimate,” said Philbrick as he exited the salesroom, “and there was competition for the work which I liked.” He bought the work on behalf of a European collector. The sale had several unusual gems, including Robert Gober’s stunning and relatively petite “The Sad Sink” from 1985, in plaster, wood, wire lath, steel, and semi-glass enamel paint, which sold to New York dealer Andrew Fabricant of Richard Gray Gallery for $2,225,000 (est. $2-3 million), and Cindy Sherman’s alluring “Untitled Film Still (#36),” a gelatin silver print from 1979, which sold to New York art advisor Amy Cappellazzo for $701,000 (est. $600-800,000).Phillips also offered a number of less familiar Post-War Japanese art offerings, including Toshimitsu Imai’s stunning “Lava” from 1957, a rather cataclysmic composition, boiling over in oil on canvas that fetched a record $413,000 (est. $200-300,000).The evening action resumes on Monday at Christie’s hotly anticipated “The Artist’s Muse” sale, starring a potentially record breaking Amedeo Modigliani nude.
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