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Phillips’ New Now and Christie’s’ Post-War to Present showed unabating demand for rising art stars, and Sotheby’s upcoming Contemporary Curated might do the same. South Asian Art sales are promising highlights as well.

Allison Zuckerman, Tavern Song, 2018. Courtesy of Phillips

Auctions continue to show strong signs of confidence ahead of the first marquee sales of the year two weeks from now, the lot lists of which still haven’t been finalized. Especially the emerging artists market is booming as was reflected in Phillips’ record total of its New Now series, but also Christie’s Post-War to Present sale showed that demand for new talent is still growing.

The new, innovative and promising naturally serves as a magnet for an equally fresh and emerging collectors base in a time in which whole market segments are being reshuffled and an air of a new order is tangible. One only needs to browse the art media and observe how many headlines, analyses and columns have recently been dedicated to NFT (non-fungible tokens) sales to grasp how fast our ultra-communicative environment results in unruly and unpredictable frenzies. To be sure, a week ago we recorded the online sale of Beeple’s EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS at Christie’s to have skyrocketed to $3.25 million with eight days to go. Well, with some 24 hours to go, the current bid now stands at $9.75 million — even the biggest enthusiasts will have difficulties finding some fundamental justification for such price levels.

Matthew Wong, Luminous Night, 2017. Courtesy of Christie's

Possibly inflated, at least in part, but certainly more sustainable are the hammer prices we’re currently observing in the emerging art market. Phillips’ New Now auction on March 3 (expectedly) surpassed its expectations by totaling $9.42 million, more than doubling the mid-estimate when including buyer’s premium. By now comfortable in his role of leading the pack, the late Matthew Wong’s performance didn’t disappoint and continued where it left off last year. His Horizon Light opened bidding and climbed from a $25,000 estimate to a $126,000 result, but it was his Lotus that was placed highest ahead of the sale with an expectation of $400,000 - $600,000 and sold for $1.66 million. In yesterday’s Post-War to Present sale at Christie’s, Wong sold even higher, his Luminous Night going for $2.19 million (estimate: $600,000 - $800,000).

Hernan Bas, Downhill at Dusk (The Runaway), 2008. Courtesy of Phillips

With one withdrawn lot, the 185-lot New Now achieved an almost 90% sell-through rate and an overwhelming percentage of above estimate performances with no less than twenty new artist records — the most notable among them Hernan Bas’, whose Downhill at Dusk (The Runaway) sold for $352,800 ($70,000 - $100,000) registering the third-highest price of the auction, behind Mickalene Thomas’ colorfully reflective Untitled #10, which came in at $889,100 ($70,000 - $90,000). Other record-setting artists with especially high results compared to estimates were Sonia Gomes, whose fabric sculpture Sem título from the series Torção sold for $138,600 ($8,000 - $12,000), Allison Zuckerman, who debuted on the secondary market, achieving $93,240 ($10,000 - $15,000) with the comical and cubist Tavern Song, and Chakaia Booker with her typical “recycling” sculpture Untitled, which registered $59,220 ($4000 - $6000).

Salman Toor, The Singers, 2019. Courtesy of Christie's

Christie’s, too, continued its solid March sales performance, the above-mentioned Post-War to Present auction totaling $23.1 million, above its pre-premium high estimate of $21.7 million. While established artists, like Keith Haring – whose top lot of the evening Untitled sold at mid-estimate for $3 million – largely met expectations, it was again the emerging brand that overperformed. Besides Wong, Pakistani artist Salman Toor did well with The Singers that sold for $612,000 ($100,000 - $150,000), rising art star Emily May Smith’s Profane Interloper, containing her typical worm-like figure, brought $350,000 ($50,000 - $70,000), and Puerto Rican painter Angel Otero established a new record with Bacchus, Dionysus (after Poussin) that achieved $156,250 ($25,000 - $35,000).

Noah Davis, Judge Judy, 2012. Courtesy of Sotheby's

Before the final stretch and the highlights of this auction cycle, Sotheby’s will hold its Contemporary Curated auction on Friday, likely confirming this trend of up-and-coming artists’ strength. The sale, however, priced at $18.4 million - $25.5 million, contains more established and only some emerging names, and the top spots with 7-figure estimates are held by the former. Ed Ruscha's California Grape Skins is expected to fetch $2 million - $2.8 million, Wayne Thiebaud's Dark Heart Cake $1.8 million - $2.5 million, and Andy Warhol's Aretha Franklin $900,000 - $1.2 million. Some mid-career artists to be watched include the provocative, sexually charged painting Handy by Marlene Dumas ($600,000 - $800,000), Pat Steir's Waterfall Series: Painted with the Chinese in Mind ($300,000 - $400,000), and Nicole Eisenman's Duck Hunters ($200,000 - $300,000). Some of the emerging names (besides Matthew Wong, of course, whose The Lagoon is estimated at $150,000 - $200,000) lower on the list include Kehinde Wiley with Passing/Possing (St. Thomas the Apostle) ($150,000 - $250,000), Jonas Wood with Manny ($120,000 - $180,000) and Noah Davis, who died at the young age of 32 in 2015, his Judge Judy carrying a price tag of $80,000 - $120,000.

Amrita Sher-Gil, Portrait of Denyse, circa 1932. Courtesy of Christie's

Also to be followed are this and next week’s South Asian Art sales. The most expensive lot will be offered at Saffronart in Mumbai tomorrow, where Vasudeo S. Gaitonde – who in 2020 broke record after record, not only his own but for the most expensive Indian lot ever sold – will once again take the center stage with his Untitled. It is estimated at $3.5 million - $4.9 million, but with an overperformance he could surpass his previous record from last September and establish another new high for Indian art. Gaitonde will also star as the leading lot of Sotheby’s South Asian Art sale on March 16, albeit with a lower estimate of $800,000 - $1.2 million. Another highlight from this segment will be the sale of Amrita Sher-Gil’s rediscovered Portrait of Denyse, coming under the Hammer at Christie’s on March 17 for $1.8 million - $2.8 million. It, too, could break the female modernist’s record if it sells above estimate.

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