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Simon de Pury
Phillips de Pury & Co is a distant third place in the auction wars and must try harder to get the spotlight--as well as the high rollers that come along with it. Having said that, the lineup of lots that the auction house manages to attract is always impressive and the party atmosphere of a Phillips Evening sale is hard to beat. The crowd is usually younger than the uptown houses and tonight was no exception. As the evening commenced, I was interested to see how many of the Wall Street crowd would show up during our Post-George Bush Depression. In recent years, it was normal to see nouveau urban investors buying trophy art for sport and aiming at names rather than individual works.
Fairly or not, I often found myself wondering: Does that corporate fratboy in the fourth row view his new George Condo just as part of a stock portfolio? Can his buddies talk passionately about, say, the work of Rudolf Stingel? The psychology of these types of buyers in years past has been hard to figure out. Why don't they go to galleries and avoid the hefty auction house buyer's premiums? Even if the "right kind" of galleries won't sell to speculators, do these clowns think that they can walk away with a bargain right under the noses of all the rest of us in the room?
Phillips shrewdly gave these kinds of bidders what they most wanted: access and opportunity. It was a perfect storm. Youthful bravado and a fat line of credit meet name recognition and cheering, competitive crowd. At auction, the guy almost always ended up paying too much, but no doubt he impressed his current girlfriend with the size of his paddle in the process.
This year, Phillips de Pury & Co. suffered a bit from the lack of new moneyed young Evening Sale buyer. It must be noted that there were a surprising number of empty seats down front, and bidding in the room, sorry to say, was sporadic. Despite the live internet feed and several museum quality works by bold-faced names, the vast majority of tonight's action was between absentee bids and Phillips' staff members, i.e. "The Book" vs. "The Phones."
The evening in the noisy, rented ground floor space on 15th Street started out very strong and it appeared that we were in for a treat. Lot number 1 was a glass sculpture by Sherrie Levine, "Black Newborn" (1994) from the edition of 12 (!) and it carried an estimate of $40-60,000. The phones lit up and the piece climbed past its high estimate, effortlessly reaching a hammer price of $90,000. Next up was Aaron Young's "Burn Out (California is a Garden of Eden, A Paradise for You and Me, But Believe or Not)" a burnt rubber and acrylic on aluminum triptych from 2008, which quickly sold for $48,000 above its $45,000 high estimate. There were several triumphs, as works by Rosemarie Trockel, Mike Kelley, Mark Grotjahn, Zeng Fanzhi, and Feng Zhengjie all surpassed their high presale estimates.
Robert Gober, 'Untitled', 1993-1994
However, it soon became apparent that this was not going to be a bell-ringer of an evening. Twelve of the forty-three lots failed to meet their reserve prices, a few of which the auction house had high hopes for. The Robert Gober sculpture of the box of Farina cereal was a star lot displayed behind auctioneer Simon de Pury's podium and had been recreated as a collectible box for this evening's catalogue. The large untitled work was produced in 1993-1994 and carried an optimistic presale estimate of $2.5-3.5 million, the highest of the evening. The piece opened with a Book bid of $1.3 million; it struggled to reach just $1.7 million and was bought in by the auction house. Perhaps this Gober was hurt by the high-profile failure of the artist's wax male butt sculpture to sell last night at Christie's. Or perhaps the estimate was just too high for current market conditions (or even for a Gober in general.)
Works by Kippenberger, Kapoor, Judd, Chamberlain, Ruscha, Minjun, Phillips, Stingel and Rauschenberg all passed. Notably, a (terrible) Richard Prince painting/collage consisting of cancelled checks and scatological brown acrylic carried a presale estimate of $150-200,000, but was bought after struggling to just $130,000. And another auction darling, Elizabeth Peyton, was a disappointment for Phillips when an early, large oil on linen work by the artist, "Genuina y Pura" (1990), passed after reaching a bid of $260,000, against its presale estimate of $300-400,000.
Empty seats as bidding starts for Elizabeth Peyton's "Genuina y Pura" (1990)
Bidding gets underway for Sherrie Levine's gold-plated homage to Marcel Duchamp's urinal, entitled "Fountain (Buddha)" from 1996
Still, bidding was steady and in-line for many lots. Diminutive auctioneer Simon de P. did a great job of keeping the evening moving and holding our interest, even if his kooky enthusiasm of years past was in short supply. It was thrilling to see the magnificent Sherrie Levine gold-plated homage to Marcel Duchamp's urinal, entitled "Fountain (Buddha)" from 1996, attract many bidders, from all over the room, and whizz past its high estimate of $200,000 to bring a hammer price of $370,000. A tall, narrow canvas by Mark Grotjahn from his "Butterfly" series brought $320,000, over the presale estimate of $200-300,000. George Condo's "Large Reclining Smoker," (2005) sold to a phone bidder for $160,000, within estimates. And a sock monkey from 1989 that Mike Kelley found and hung and called "Estral Star" carried a presale estimate of $50-70,000 and had a much-deserved last laugh by bringing a hammer price of $80,000. The Philip Guston on offer, "Anxiety" (1975), though it didn't contain a human figure, had the requisite pink/red background and depicts a funny sandwich waiting next to an old-fashioned telephone, sold for $900,000 (against its estimate of $1 -1.5 million) to a visibly pleased elderly gentleman, who smiled at me when I turned to find the successful bidder.
Mike Kelley, "Estral Star", 1989
Phillips de Pury & Co. deserves much praise for an impressive evening. As far as auctioneers go, even a low-key Simon de Pury is my favorite. Who couldn't love hearing him repeat dollar amounts in French? And tonight, when Tracey Emin's neon "When I Think about Sex...." (2005) came on the block, I laughed out loud as Mr. de Pury announced that "Tracey Emin's When I Sink About Zex" is next......" The white word piece (edition of three) went for $45,000, just under its low estimate of $50,000.
Overall, tonight at Phillips there were a few significant disappointments, but at the same time many unseen consignors are breathing a sigh of relief. The foundations of the Contemporary Art Market seem to be holding steady for the most part, but the days of stockbrokers fighting over a Vanessa Beecroft female nude photo or paying $150,000 for a cheesy Jack Pierson word piece are apparently behind us.
Doug McClemont |
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Doug McClemont is the former Editor-in-Chief of HONCHO, Torso, Mandate, Inches and Playguy. His writing regularly appears in publications such as Publishers' Weekly, Library Journal and Screw. He has written introductory essays for several monographs on contemporary art and is currently at work on a book of short stories entitled Little Morticians. |
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| Published on 16-05-2009 |
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