Auctioneer Rebecca Tooby-Desmond at the Editions & Works on Paper Evening Sale in New York on 22 October, selling Andy Warhol’s Cowboys and Indians from 1986 — the top Editions lot of the year. © 2024 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Licensed by DACS, London
Phillips' Top Lot of 2024: Basquiat Triumphs
Basquiat's first gallerist Annina Nosei joins Phillips’ Scott Nussbaum at 432 Park Avenue to discuss Nosei’s memories of Basquiat in the early 1980s, when he executed his masterwork Untitled (ELMAR), 1982 — Phillips' top lot of 2024. Modern & Contemporary Evening Sale.
Sold for $46,479,000.
Phillips’ top lot of 2024 was Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Untitled (ELMAR) of 1982. In our Modern & Contemporary Evening Sale on 14 May in New York, it quickly surpassed its low estimate to realize $46.5 million, the highest price achieved for any lot in the spring sales across all houses. A classic of Basquiat’s oeuvre, this monumental masterwork is from a key chapter in his meteoric ascension from street artist to global art legend and features the artist’s signature crown and archer iconography. Acquired by the Italian anthropologist Francesco Pellizzi in the early 1980s directly from Basquiat’s first gallerist, Annina Nosei, it remained in his collection for four decades — until it came to auction at Phillips directly from the original collection of Francesco Pellizzi and the Pellizzi Family. Phillips, in addition to bringing many of Basquiat’s masterworks to auction year after year, in 2022 achieved for Basquiat the world auction record for the work of an American artist. The success of Basquiat’s Untitled (ELMAR) this year once again confirms Phillips as the “House of Basquiat.”
Pink is the Colour of this Year's Top Prize in Jewels
Top Jewels lot: Exceptional Fancy Vivid Pink diamond ring, set with an oval fancy vivid pink diamond of outstanding colour weighing 6.21 carats, between two kite-shaped diamonds. The Geneva Jewels Auction: TWO.
Sold for CHF10,869,500 / $11,987,972.
Building on the success of Phillips’ first Jewels sale in Geneva last year, The Geneva Jewels Auction: TWO on May 13 delivered tremendous results, most notably achieving CHF10.9 million ($12 million) for the Exceptional Fancy Vivid Pink diamond ring — not only our top Jewels lot of the year, but also the star lot this past spring across all Geneva auction houses. Weighing in at an impressive 6.21 carats, this remarkable stone commanded a formidable price per carat of $1.93 million. Pink diamonds are among the rarest of all gemstones and those certified Fancy Vivid Pink are exceptionally so. Most are quite small. When a stone of this colour, size, and quality comes up for auction, it is an event of some importance. As evidenced by this spectacular sale, demand for top quality pink diamonds continues to surge. And no less for red diamonds, which are the very rarest of all. Notably, in the sale, Phillips also achieved the world record price for a Fancy Red diamond at auction, with 'The Argyle Phoenix' Very rare and mesmerising Fancy Red diamond ring, featuring a brilliant-cut fancy red diamond weighing 1.56 carats, commanding CHF 3.8 million ($4.2 million), nearly triple its high estimate — an astonishing price per carat of $2.7 million. Our two triumphs in this auction capped a year of astonishing successes with top prices for notable jewels from esteemed houses and exquisite coloured diamonds, sapphires, and emeralds. But the majestic beauty of the Exceptional Fancy Vivid Pink diamond ring will live in our memory for all time.
The Movement Heard Around the World
Top Watches lot: F.P. Journe, The Tourbillon Souverain à Remontoir d’Égalité, a career defining, and history changing platinum tourbillon wristwatch with remontoir and 14 original technical drawings, 1993. Highlights from Reloaded: The Rebirth of Mechanical Watchmaking 1980–1999.
Sold for CHF7,320,000 / $8,390,916.
The top Watches lot for Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo in 2024 was the F.P. Journe Tourbillon Souverain à Remontoir d’Égalité 15/93 in our 8 November Geneva auction Highlights from Reloaded: The Rebirth of Mechanical Watchmaking 1980–1999. An historic timepiece — the second wristwatch he ever made and the first wristwatch sold by François-Paul Journe — it was a much-anticipated lot. Bidding started directly at CHF1 million and quickly soared to CHF7.3 million ($8.4 million), more than tripling its pre-sale estimate — to establish a new world record for an F.P. Journe watch and another for the most expensive wristwatch by an independent watchmaker to be sold at auction.
Together with The Geneva Watch Auction: XX on 9 & 10 November, this white glove auction drew registered bidders from sixty countries around the world and resulted in a combined sales total of CHF25.7 million ($29.4 million) — our second highest ever for Phillips’ Geneva Watch Weekend, as well as the second highest sale total in the history of watch auctions. Four watches sold above CH2 million and eight above CHF1 million, confirming that the momentum of the global market for the finest horological masterpieces is in high gear, with passion for the legendary achievements of F.P. Journe at an all-time high.
The Triumph of Royère Was beyond Compare
Top Design lot: Jean Royère, Pair of "Boule" also known as "Ours polaire" armchairs, circa 1942. New York Design.
Sold for $1,875,000.
Our top lot of the year in Design was a pair of Jean Royère’s iconic Boule armchairs in the 11 December Design Auction in New York. When the hammer finally fell after an exciting bidding war in the room that lasted for more than five minutes, the magnitude of the sale struck home. The final impressive price of $1.875 million tripled the low estimate to set a new world auction record for the model. Exemplifying Royère’s genius, invention, and craftsmanship by eliminating sharp lines to create a gracefully sloping organic silhouette that feels alive, cozy, and effortlessly chic, the Boule armchairs were affectionately nicknamed Ours Polaire (Polar Bears). The design debuted in 1942 at the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs and was initially conceived as part of an “Attic Nook” concept for a mountain chalet. The continuing resonance of Royère was further confirmed by his "Tour Eiffel" coffee table and Large "Tour Eiffel" console both selling in this auction for nearly five times their low estimates to set new world auction records for those models. Spirited bidding across the sale signaled strong collector interest in the designs of 20th-century masters. No less remarkable was the tremendous enthusiasm for Moved by Beauty: Works by Lucie Rie from an Important Asian Collection — the first U.S. auction dedicated to the ceramist — which resulted in a 100% sell-through rate and a combined sale total for Design that weekend in New York of a staggering $8.7 million.
Warhol at the Frontier
Top Editions lot: Andy Warhol, Cowboys and Indians, 1986, the complete set of 10 screenprints. Editions & Works on Paper. © 2024 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Licensed by DACS, London
Sold for $825,500.
Phillips once again this year confirmed that the market enthusiasm for top Pop Art prints — and the iconic works of Andy Warhol, in particular — knows no bounds. Building on the strong momentum of the Editions sales this past spring, we achieved our top Editions lot of the year on 22 October with Andy’s Warhol’s complete set of Cowboys and Indians screenprints of 1986 going for $825,500 — the second highest auction price ever. Andy Warhol’s final major portfolio is a tour de force that provocatively juxtaposes vividly-coloured images of U.S. Americana and Indigenous peoples’ culture to showcase the artist’s fascination with pop culture, his appreciation of Indigenous art, and his almost prophetic insight into the depths of the American imaginary. Notably, the excitement of the bidding on Cowboys and Indians set the stage for the evening’s crescendo — a spirited bidding war on the set’s accompanying trial proof, Sitting Bull, which sold for a record-breaking $190,500, more than six times the low estimate. Another thrilling moment in this same auction was when Warhol’s Moonwalk screenprints achieved $762,000 against the low estimate of $500,000 — a new record price for the pair, which comes just six months after we set the auction record for a single Moonwalk in our April auction. Year after year, Warhol ranks among our top artists.
The Triumph of Our Twin Peaks: Photographic Masterworks by Arbus and Stieglitz Led the Way
Top lot for Photographs New York: Alfred Stieglitz, From the Back Window--291--Snow Covered Tree, Back-Yard, 1915, platinum print. Photographs New York.
Sold for $304,800.
The top lot for Photographs in New York was achieved on 9 October with the sale of Alfred Stieglitz’s From the Back Window--291--Snow Covered Tree, Back-Yard, 1915 for $304,800. Stieglitz’s bravura photograph is one of several he executed from the rear window of his gallery at 291 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan between 1915 and 1917. The print, contemplative in mood and masterful in technique, exemplifies Stieglitz’s careful handling of the platinum medium, with highlights and shadows, and all tones in between, ensuring that a wealth of detail throughout transforms a quotidian backyard urban snow scene into a transcendent artistic experience. Only a handful of examples of the image are known to exist, and this one — originally the collection of artist and poet Katharine N. Rhoades — is one of only two in private hands. The New York Photographs Auction also resulted in strong prices for masters of the medium, including Peter Hujar, Wolfgang Tillmans, and Francesca Woodman.
Sold for £330,200 / $417,406.
Phillips top Photographs lot of the year was a previously unseen lifetime print of one of the most Diane Arbus’s iconic images, Identical twins, Roselle, N.J., 1967, from the private collection of celebrated Japanese photographer Ikkō Narahara, which achieved £330,200 / $417,406 in our Photographs Auction in London on 21 November. Throughout the sale, competitive bidding from over 35 countries worldwide, most notably from Europe, reaffirmed the strong demand for exceptional classic and contemporary photographs.
Our Look Back at a Year of Focus and Distinction
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