External | Barrons: Phillips to Hold Live-Streamed New York Sales on July 2

By Abby Schultz. Updated June 18, 2020 5:43 pm ET

Joan Mitchell's Noël, 1961-1962, oil on canvas. Courtesy of Phillips.

Phillips has announced that it will hold its New York 20th century and contemporary art sales in global live-streamed events on Thursday, July 2. 

Joan Mitchell’s Noël, 1961-1962, a nearly 7-foot high abstract oil-on-canvas, with an estimate between US$9.5 million and US$12.5 million, and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Victor25448, 1987, estimated to fetch about US$10 million, will lead the evening auction of more than 20 lots. 

The Basquiat work of acrylic, oilstick, and graphite on paper, laid down on canvas, was last sold at Christie’s in 2008 to an anonymous buyer for US$3.5 million, with fees, below an estimate range between US$4.5 million and US$6.5 million. 

Like its auction house competitors, Phillips had to cancel its spring live sales in New York amid state shutdown orders aimed at halting the spread of the coronavirus. 

Jean-Michel Basquiat's Victor 25448, 1987. Courtesy of Phillips.

While the July sales will be live, visitors won’t be in the New York saleroom. Instead, auctioneer Henry Highley will conduct the evening auction in real-time beginning at 5 p.m. Phillips has built a digitally-enhanced salesroom in London that will allow Phillips to stream the event internationally. This virtual auction room will include a wall of videos connecting to Phillips specialists in offices globally. 

The set-up will be similar to Sotheby’s New York live auction taking place from London on June 29. The auction house’s series of consecutive evening sales, beginning with the late gallerist Ginny Williams’ collection, followed by contemporary and impressionist and modern auctions, will begin at 6:30 p.m. EDT.

Christie’s July 10 sale, instead, will be conducted relay-style in live-streamed auctions beginning in Hong Kong at 8 p.m. local time, before moving to Paris, London, and, finally, New York. 

At Phillips, bidders can watch and place bids in real time online and through a Phillips mobile app, the auction house said. A live-streamed day sale will take place in two parts, at 11 a.m. EDT and at 2 p.m. EDT, with a total of 170 lots.

The auction house will preview works featured in the day sales and the evening sale through virtual tours of its New York showroom. In-person viewings will be by appointment only, in line with state guidelines, Phillips said. 

Other highlights of the evening sale include Gerhard Richter’s Abstraktes Bild (801-3), 1994, with an estimate between US$2 million and US$3 million, and Banksy’s Monkey Poison, 2004, with an estimate between US$1.8 million and US$2.5 million. 

The work by street artist Bansky, in spray paint on canvas, comes with a certificate of authenticity issued by Pest Control, which services the artist’s work on his behalf.

This article appeared on the website www.barrons.com.