Phillips

What is the latest news from around the auction world this July? The highly-anticipated Coeur d’Alene Art Auction of 2022 netted a respectable USD 16.4 million this month after setting numerous world records for American Western artists. Phillips reported a record mid-year high in sales, as well as the opening of a Los Angeles office. Elsewhere, ...

June marks Pride Month, an annual celebration of LGBTQ+ individuals, history, and culture. Visibility is an ongoing challenge for LGBTQ+ individuals, especially in traditional sectors like the auction world. This Pride Month, Auction Daily profiles five contemporary LGBTQ+ artists to watch. Zanele Muholi. Image courtesy of Najib Nafid via ART AFRIC...

Since British private equity firm Epiris acquired Bonhams in September of 2018, the auction house has steadily expanded its market reach. Within the last two weeks, Bonhams has announced two major acquisitions of mid-level auction houses. New England-based auction house Skinner will now step under Bonhams’ umbrella. Bruun Rasmussen of Copenhagen,...

The escalating war in Ukraine is spreading devastation in its wake. As world leaders denounce Russia’s invasion, the art world is taking actions, large and small, to support Ukraine. In one open letter, over 17,000 Russian art professionals and artists called for an end to hostilities in Ukraine. Describing the conflict as “a terrible tragedy f...

This February, love and compassion reigned during Phillips’ Valentine’s Day sale. The Japanese culture of kawaii, the cute or lovable factor, inspired the My Kawaii Valentine auction. The week-long sale started on February 14, 2022, marking Valentine’s Day in the West and the Lantern Festival in the East. Offerings included kawaii, companions...

Images from around the auction world this February. Image credit from left to right: Sotheby’s, Stair, and Christie’s. Collage by Heemin Moon (Auction Daily). February is the month of love and, for those in the Northern Hemisphere, the last official month of winter. The auction world responded appropriately. Notable sales this month ranged from...

Phillips’ planned new Hong Kong headquarters. Image courtesy of Phillips. After smashing old auction records and netting USD 1.2 billion in sales last year, Phillips is ready to open a new Hong Kong headquarters. The city has become a hot new spot for auction-hosting. Industry leaders like Christie’s and Sotheby’s have already estab...

Contemporary Artist Expands Historical Art Canon to Include Black Americans History is never far from the brush of contemporary American artist Titus Kaphar. He does not view the past as a fixed point that is untouchable or irrelevant to the present. Instead, Kaphar deconstructs and rebuilds narratives about the past to show what was missing all al...

The first month of a new year presents ample time for reflection. As January pressed on, many auction houses looked back on a fruitful year of sales in 2021. Others teased previews of upcoming events, promising more eye-catching works and fresh-to-the-market finds. Auction Daily looked in both directions this month. We examined continuing trends in...

As the first month of 2022 draws to a close, the art market remains a dynamic landscape. The Omicron coronavirus variant has rekindled fears of large gatherings and events, leading to a string of art fair cancelations. Auction houses have supplemented their income with extensive online programming, sometimes to great success. Companies across the a...

Phillips is currently spotlighting the history and contemporary contours of Singaporean art in a timed benefit auction. The online sale, which closes on January 20th, 2022, will support the work of National Gallery Singapore. Almost 50 lots are on offer. The online event builds anticipation for a live auction of 13 lots featuring the past, present,...

Images from around the auction world in December of 2021. Image credit from left to right: Sotheby’s, Potter & Potter Auctions, and Phillips. Collage by Heemin Moon (Auction Daily). December offers a chance to relax during the holidays, look back on another year, or perhaps turn over a new leaf and start afresh. Auction houses also took time ...

Another year of art sales is finished. For many, 2021 brought an imperfect mix of anticipation and fear as the art world regained a sense of normalcy. Art fairs continued to offer a mixed approach to in-person events during 2021’s fourth quarter. In the auction sector, sellers organized some of the most significant events of the year all while sc...

The art world gained a few new vocabulary words this year. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) broke the barrier between fringe and mainstream early on. They caused a media flurry and prompted exhaustive tutorials on how to pronounce “fungible.” As 2021 draws to a close, it is clear that NFTs are here to stay.  How did we reach this point? Auction ...

Tomokazu Matsuyama, Mrs. Omega, July 2011 - June 2013. Image courtesy of Phillips. For years, the auction industry has had a problem with language. Terms such as “post-war” and “modern” stretch gingerly to cover the market’s holes, and their meanings often differ from one auction house to the next. While unclear terminology is the stuff o...