The Week in Prints 24th - 30th June 2024

Across the major houses this week, London welcomed bidders with a flurry of Modern & Contemporary sales. Despite offering promising lots, with relatively conservative presale estimates, the overall picture at the end of the week is one which speaks to an atmosphere of hesitancy in the current market. Sales across Sotheby's, Phillips, Bonhams, and Christie's - who cancelled their main June marquee sale - failed to meet low estimates, as lots struggled to meet and surpass their high estimates.

The week of marquee sales kicked off with Sotheby's Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction, including the Ralph I. Goldenberg Collection on Tuesday 25th June. Chairman of Sotheby's Europe, Oliver Barker, welcomed a comfortably bustling floor: “As per tradition, summer is the season where the art world - and Taylor Swift fans - converge in London.” Even with lower estimates and reduced fees, however, marquee sales across the board were unable to shake off the market jitters holding bidders back. Take Jean-Michel Basquiat's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Derelict as case in point. Two years ago, the work was estimated at $30 million at Christie's New York (before being pulled just before the sale). Prior to this year's marquee sale at Sotheby's, the work was given a more humble estimate of £15 - £20 million, and hammered at the low estimate after less than a minute of bidding. For opportunist bidders, this period in the market is a chance to secure better deals than the over-saturated pandemic-era market. Though the overall sale fell 7% below the low estimate, Sotheby's still sported a healthy 90% sell-through rate at their evening auction (versus 68% at the day auction).

Meanwhile, Phillips Modern & Contemporary Art: Evening & Day Sale on Thursday 27th June fell 15% below the low overall presale estimate, with an underwhelming 69% sell-through rate. Though multiple lots were pulled, passed, or fell below estimate, certain works captured bidders' attention with notable success from Caroline Walker, Ayako Rokkaku, and Andy Warhol's unique iteration of a Campbell's Soup box - which hammered £20,000 above the high estimate at £670,000. Though few records were broken and high estimates were not smashed as they might have been in recent years, demand certainly remains for the blue chip icons and rising stars.

Outside of the arena of fine art marquee sales, Christie's hosted Vivienne Westwood: The Personal Collection across a white glove evening sale and online sale of other garments and accessories from the personal wardrobe of the late fashion designer and cultural icon. Prior to the sales this week, the lots were exhibited at Christie's in London in an un-ticketed event which was totally free to the public. Lots from the auction itself were offered by the Estate of Vivienne Westwood, who are to donate 100% of the total hammer proceeds (after auction expenses) equally between The Vivienne Foundation, Médecins Sans Frontières, and Amnesty International.

Throughout her life and illustrious career, Dame Vivienne Westwood transformed British fashion with a punkish, often gender-bending, and always theatrical edge. Across the evening and online sales, her signature corsetted silhouettes with draped tartans, taffetas, and silks marked some of the designer's most memorable personal looks. Even the auctioneers of the evening sale came dressed for the occasion, dubbing Westwood pins and other fashionable homages to her iconic style. Yet another white glove celebrity sale, the sale proves the power of provenance at auction, and marks the endurance of Westwood's contributions to British fashion.

The sheer amount American Pop Art merchandise circulating our high streets apparently knows no end, as H&M announce a collaboration with the Jean-Michel Basquiat Estate. The fashion retailer celebrated the launch of their collaboration with Ev Bravado and Téla d'Amore in Paris this week, with a star-studded cocktail party. Attendees flaunted pieces from the new collection which “explores Basquiat's legacy and his impact on young Black creatives.” Amongst the core pieces of the collection, which are to be launched in selected stores worldwide on 18 July, several one-off, customs pieces were made to be donated to the Basquiat Estate. Given Basquiat's own penchant for fashion throughout his career, the collection of streetwear from an accessible brand like H&M seems like a fitting homage to Basquiat's legacy.

The sale of Yayoi Kusama's Phantom Polka Dots of Fate, Ordained by Heaven, Were the Greatest Gift Ever for Me concluded online via Sotheby's Sealed on 27th June 2024. Due to the nature of the auction house's Sealed platform, which treats bids for luxury goods and services with the utmost discretion, Sotheby's did not announce the winning bid for the Kusama sculpture. Perhaps of more interest given the current climate of the auction world (and Sotheby's recent fee structure change) is that absolutely no buyer's premium. Through a proprietary ranking system, bidders cannot see other bids as they come in, but have the opportunity to see where their bid fell after the sale has closed. The winning bid is kept totally confidential, merging the practices of the traditional auction house with that of bespoke private sales venues. Indeed, as the first Sealed auction to feature a work of fine art, it will be intriguing to see what art offering Sotheby's sealed offer in the future.