Sotheby’s Modern and contemporary sale in London netted a tepid £83.6m, sparking debate over the relevance of the summer auction season. Highlights included a £15m Basquiat and active bidding on Ralph I. Goldenberg’s collection. The auction week, starting with Sotheby’s on June 25 and concluding with Phillips on June 28, has seen more robust beginnings in the past. Christie's decision to skip a June evening sale this year underscores the season’s declining significance compared to the larger March and October sales in London and the major May auctions in New York.
This sale, the first since news of layoffs at both Sotheby’s and Christie’s, featured 52 lots and achieved a hammer total of £71.8m (£83.6m with fees), below the pre-sale estimate of £76.4m to £108.1m. Last year’s sale reached £190.3m, largely due to the record-breaking £85.3m sale of Gustav Klimt’s Dame mit Fächer. Jean-Michel Basquiat’s triptych Portrait of the Artist as a Young Derelict (1982) was the top lot, hammering at £15m (£16m with fees) after a minute of bidding. The sale also saw strong performances from the Goldenberg collection, with Alexander Calder’s Animal Negro and Agnes Martin’s 2001 composition surpassing their high estimates.
However, not all lots from Goldenberg’s collection performed well. Robert Ryman’s 1965 Unfinished Painting and another 1965 work failed to meet expectations, selling below estimates. The second half of the auction, led by Helena Newman, saw several lots undersell. Picasso’s Guitare sur un tapis rouge (1922) and works by Mark Grotjahn and Gustave Caillebotte fell short of their estimates. Despite this, Sotheby’s maintained a 93% sell-through rate, and Newman and Macaulay remain optimistic about London's June auction season. “We are thrilled with the sale,” they commented, highlighting the importance of London’s international collector base during the season's social events. Even amid a challenging market, the enduring allure of London in June, bolstered by high-profile events and cultural gatherings, suggests that the summer auction season is far from over.
Selena Mattei