Estimates Way Down for London Contemporary Auctions

Published: January 15, 2009

LONDON—The estimates for next month’s London contemporary art sales are less than a quarter of what they were for equivalent sales one year ago, according to calculations compiled by Bloomberg. The evening sales at Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and Phillips de Pury carry a total low estimate of £38.4 million ($55.9 million), a mere 23 percent of the £164.3 million estimate for the 2008 February sales. Although global auction sales of contemporary art quadrupled between 2005 and 2007, the numbers declined precipitously in the final quarter of 2008, and owners are now reluctant to sell valuable pieces. Still, with works by the likes of Francis Bacon, Lucio Fontana, and Jeff Koons on offer, the auctions are not without their star power.“The auction houses have found it difficult getting material,” said London dealer Thomas Dane. “On the other hand they didn’t want to take on a lot.” Indeed, the sales feature many fewer lots than in previous years. Sotheby’s February 5 sale has 27 lots, down from 70 last February. Christie’s February 11 sale has 31 lots, compared to 54 in last year’s equivalent sale. And on February 12, Phillips will have 53 lots, as opposed to 111 last year.“We wanted to create a tightly edited selection with quality works that were fresh to the market and correctly priced,” said Pilar Ordovas, Christie’s European head of contemporary art. “We were presented with quite a few incorrectly priced works that we didn’t accept for the sale.”