New York, 28 April 2025 - Phillips has announced highlights from its forthcoming Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale, scheduled for 5pm EDT on 13 May 2025 at 432 Park Avenue. Comprised of 40 lots, the sale showcases Modern, Post-War, and Contemporary works that are fresh-to-market, with 90 percent of the works having never appeared at auction before or appearing for the first time in over 15 years. The sale will be led by artworks from some of the past century's most revered names, including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Ed Ruscha, Pablo Picasso, Gerhard Richter, and Donald Judd. Prior to the auction, the public exhibition will be open for viewing from 3 to 13 May.
Jean-Paul Engelen, Phillips' President, Americas and Worldwide Co-Head of Modern & Contemporary Art, and Robert Manley, Phillips' Deputy Chairman and Worldwide Co-Head of Modern & Contemporary Art, said, "In response to today's increasingly selective art market, our primary aim is to captivate the most discerning collectors by presenting compelling works that they have never seen at auction." They noted that nearly 80 percent of works in the sale will make their first-ever auction debut, with only four works having sold publicly in the past fifteen years. Among the lots are several masterpieces of the 20th century, previously held in the same private collections for generations, from a Calder standing mobile that has remained in the renowned Winston Malbin Family collection since it was executed circa 1949, to Richter's portrait of Sigmar Polke as a young child, acquired from Blinky Palermo in 1976.
The leading lots
Among the top lots of the Evening Sale is Jean-Michel Basquiat's Untitled (1984), estimated at $4,500,000 to $6,500,000. A patchwork of mediums, from collage to acrylic to spray paint, the work is one of eighteen canvases the artist painted while in Sweden and bears stellar provenance, having first been owned by perhaps his most important champion, Bruno Bischofberger, before it was acquired by the cultural icon David Bowie in 1995, who cherished it for the remainder of his life. Also among the fresh-to-market works is Gerhard Richter's Mann mit zwei Kindern (1966), estimated at $4,000,000 to $6,000,000. Previously held in the personal collection of the Düsseldorf-based artist Blinky Palermo, this key example of Richter's Photo Paintings portrays his close friend Sigmar Polke as a child with his family.
After nearly 20 years in the same private collection, Pablo Picasso's Homme et femme à table (1902 to 1903) carries an estimate of $4,000,000 to $6,000,000. In this early work, the Spanish master indulges his fascination with café culture, portraying his close friend Angel Fernández de Soto in a pastel portrait that foreshadows the emotional depth of his Blue Period. The painting was previously owned by the Dorrances, founders of the Campbell's soup company and one of the greatest American collecting families in history. Two important works by Donald Judd also make their auction debut, led by an Untitled "stack" (1988) in steel and blue Plexiglas, estimated at $4,000,000 to $6,000,000, which has never before been offered for sale publicly. Ed Ruscha's Alvarado to Doheny (1998), a snow-dusted rendering of the majestic Paramount mountain, appears at auction for the first time since its creation, carrying an estimate of $4,000,000 to $6,000,000.
American voices and fresh rediscoveries
The sale gives prominent place to several American artists offered with exceptional provenance. Charles White's Let's Walk Together (1953), a meticulously rendered charcoal drawing rooted in Social Realism, has been privately owned and never exhibited since its debut at ACA Gallery in 1956, and is estimated at $500,000 to $700,000. Grace Hartigan's The Fourth (1959), acquired in the year of its creation by the family of William A. M. Burden Jr., the banker, philanthropist, and U.S. Ambassador to Belgium, is estimated at $600,000 to $800,000. A second Basquiat, Untitled (1985 to 1986), a thrilling rediscovery never before offered at auction, is estimated at $1,500,000 to $2,000,000. The sale also marks Olga de Amaral's first appearance in a major Evening Sale of Modern & Contemporary Art with Imagen perdida 27 (1996), a handwoven linen composition encrusted with gold leaf, estimated at $300,000 to $500,000.
Additional highlights
Further works span the breadth of the offering, several making their auction or Evening Sale debuts. Among the highlights:
Sean Scully's Landline Dark Blue and Jasper Johns' Figure 3 (1997), number 3 from an edition of 4, are both making their auction debuts, while Le Corbusier's Nature morte à la bouteille et au violon (1943) and Frank Stella's Ostropol I (1973) will be publicly exhibited for the first time during the preview after decades in private collections. The Evening Sale also presents the debuts of Yu Nishimura, whose first solo show in the United States runs concurrently at David Zwirner Gallery through June 2025, alongside Kiki Kogelnik and James Turrell.
The auction takes place on 13 May 2025 at 432 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10022, with viewing open to the public from 3 to 13 May 2025. As a leading global platform for 20th and 21st century works, Phillips offers dedicated expertise across Modern and Contemporary Art, Design, Photographs, Editions, Watches, and Jewels, with auctions and exhibitions held primarily in New York, London, Geneva, and Hong Kong.
(Press Release)
