Auctions: Contemporary Art, Parts I and II, November 12 and 13, 2009 @Phillips

Phillips is last in line in the Contemporary Art sales this Fall season. While the two sales have Phillips' usual complement of fresh contemporary work, there are few "lightning rod" pictures on offer; many top names are represented, but the works available are mostly second tier. There are 5 photographic lots in Part I (Evening); the rest of the contemporary photographs can be found in Part II (Day). There are a total of 60 photography lots for sale across the two auctions, with a Total High Estimate of $2436000. (Catalog covers at right, via Phillips.)

Here's the breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including $10000): 18
Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): $129000

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between $10000 and $50000): 36
Total Mid Estimate: $927000

Total High Lots (high estimate above $50000): 6
Total High Estimate: $1380000

The top lot by High estimate is lot 8, Richard Prince, Untitled (four women with their backs to the camera), 1980, at $400000-600000.

Here is a short list of the photographers who are represented by more than one photo lot in the two sales (with the number of lots in parentheses):
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Matthew Barney (3)

Paul McCarthy (3)

Richard Prince (3)
Cang Xin (2)

Gregory Crewdson (2)

Hai Bo (2)

David LaChapelle (2)

Vik Muniz (2)

Andres Serrano (2)

Wolfgang Tillmans (2)

Massimo Vitali (2)

There really aren't any perfect fits for our particular collection in this sale. I did however enjoy the Gerhard Richter overpainted photograph, lot 112, Untitled (20.2.96), 1996.
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The complete lot by lot catalogs can be found here (Part I) and here (Part II).

Contemporary Art Part I

November 12th

Contemporary Art Part II

November 13th

Phillips De Pury & Company

450 West 15 Street

New York, NY 10011