Auction: Now: Art of the 21st Century, September 26, 2009 @Phillips London

Phillips is clearly continuing to fine tune its sales strategy, still looking for the right formula; the Saturday @Phillips sales appear to have been discontinued, replaced by this sale (catalog cover at right) and another focused on Latin America a week or so later.

This auction combines photography with other contemporary art and design, all from the last decade. There are a total of 112 photography lots on offer, with a total high estimate of £659500. As usual, Phillips has pushed the edge of the envelope with fresh material. One strange association: there's a distinct echo of the Humble Arts Foundation's Collector's Guide (here) to be found amidst a grouping of these lots; many of the same artists and even the same specific prints have reappeared here. Also, it is interesting to see Helga Steppan and Jeongmee Yoon traveling down related roads. Of course, there's lots of other new work from other sources as well.

Here's the breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including £5000): 78
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): £220000

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between £5000 and £25000): 31
Total Mid Estimate: £309500

Total High Lots (high estimate above £25000): 3
Total High Estimate: £130000

The top lot by High estimate is lot 141, Rashid Rana, When He Said I Do, He Did Not Say What He Did, 2004, at £40000-60000.

While there weren't too many great fits for our collection, we did like lot 55 Stephen Gill, Billboard Series, 2004.

The complete lot by lot catalog can be found here.

Now: Art of the 21st Century
September 26th

Phillips De Pury & Company
Howick Place
London SW1P 1BB

UPDATE: So I'm not going crazy. Amani Olu has informed me that there is a formal collaboration going on between the Humble Arts Foundation and Phillips: 16 images were selected from The Collector's Guide to Emerging Art Photography and included in the sale. The official announcement will come in the next week or so.