Sotheby’s Modern and Contemporary Sale in London Nets a Tepid £83.6m, Raising Questions About the Summer Auction Season

The start of London’s summer auction week has seen better days. Sotheby’s Modern and Contemporary evening sale, held on June 25, yielded a lukewarm total of £83.6 million, igniting speculation about the relevance of the summer auction season. The week will culminate with Phillips’s equivalent auction on June 28. Christie’s decision to forego a June evening sale in London this year underscores the season’s diminishing importance in the global auction calendar, overshadowed by larger sales in March and October, as well as the major spring auctions in New York in May.

This event also marked the first evening sales since news of imminent layoffs at both Sotheby’s and Christie’s, reflecting a challenging period for the high-end market. Despite the high stakes, the sale struggled to impress, drawing £71.8 million under the hammer (£83.6 million with fees) across 52 lots, against a pre-sale estimate range of £76.4 million to £108.1 million (excluding fees). This was a significant drop from last year’s equivalent sale, which garnered £190.3 million (with fees), boosted by the record-breaking £85.3 million sale of Gustav Klimt’s "Dame mit Fächer (Lady with Fan)". The current sale also fell short compared to Sotheby’s London evening sale in March, which netted £99.7 million (with fees), and no artist records were set this time.

Three lots by women artists—Loie Hollowell, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, and Tamara de Lempicka—were withdrawn, including de Lempicka’s piece, which was estimated between £6 million and £8 million, the sale's third-highest estimate. About half of the lots were financially guaranteed by Sotheby’s, with around 30% backed by third-party irrevocable bids, indicating continued market caution. For comparison, 33% of the lots in the equivalent sale in 2022 were guaranteed.

The evening’s top lot, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s triptych "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Derelict" (1982), carried an eight-figure estimate. It was previously offered at Christie’s New York in May 2022 with an unpublished estimate of $30 million (£23.6 million) but was withdrawn before the sale. This time, it had a target range of £15 million to £20 million and sold for £15 million (£16 million with fees) after less than a minute of bidding.

Oliver Barker, Sotheby’s Europe chairman, began the sale with 16 works from the collection of the late finance executive Ralph I. Goldenberg. These works, characterized by chic minimalism and understated Abstract Expressionism, were well-received. Alexander Calder’s 1955 sculpture "Animal Negro" surpassed its £200,000 high estimate, hammering for £290,000 (£348,000 with fees). Agnes Martin’s sparse 2001 composition fetched £620,000 (£744,000 with fees) against its £600,000 high estimate, and Cy Twombly’s drawing sold for £2 million (£2.5 million with fees), above its £1.2 million to £1.8 million estimate. Most works from the Goldenberg collection matched or exceeded their high estimates, with strong bidding for pieces by Lucio Fontana and Alberto Giacometti.

However, not all Goldenberg lots performed well. Robert Ryman’s "Unfinished Painting" (1965) passed against an estimate of £1.5 million to £2 million, and another 1965 work by Ryman hammered well below its £700,000 low estimate at £450,000 (£540,000 with fees).

Michael Macaulay, Sotheby’s deputy chairman of contemporary art, acknowledged the mixed results, stating, "We will learn a lesson from this." He downplayed the impact on Ryman’s market, suggesting no radical readjustment.

The sale's second half, overseen by Helena Newman, Sotheby’s head of Impressionist and Modern art, encountered more difficulties. Picasso’s "Guitare sur un tapis rouge" (1922), the second highest estimated lot, hammered for £9.4 million (£10.7 million with fees) against an estimate of £10 million to £15 million. Several lots sold below their low estimates, and some works, including a Degas sculpture and Chris Ofili’s painting "Trump" (1997-98), failed to sell.

Despite these challenges, Newman and Macaulay remain optimistic about London's June auction season. They highlighted the sale's 93% sell-through rate and emphasized the importance of maintaining three auction seasons a year in London. Newman pointed to the presence of international collectors in London for various high-profile social events as a key reason to continue these sales. Macaulay humorously added a nod to Taylor Swift’s sold-out "Eras" tour, suggesting that auction houses might take inspiration from her ability to draw large audiences.

In conclusion, while the tepid results of Sotheby’s Modern and Contemporary evening sale raise questions about the future of London’s summer auction season, the enduring appeal of the city’s cultural and social events continues to attract a global collector base. The challenge remains for auction houses to captivate these audiences and achieve stronger sales results in future seasons.