New York, 4 June 2026 - Phillips has announced highlights from its Editions & Works on Paper Auction, taking place on 24 June at 1:00 PM ET at 432 Park Avenue in New York. Comprising more than 150 lots, the sale brings together a curated selection of works spanning the 20th and 21st centuries, from early avant-garde and Pop to Postwar and contemporary practices. It is led by key figures including Marcel Duchamp, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Robert Rauschenberg, and presented alongside leading contemporary artists such as Damien Hirst, KAWS, Mickalene Thomas, Kehinde Wiley, and Kara Walker. At its heart sits AMERICA 250, a dedicated section assembling images that have shaped American identity and visual culture in the year of the United States' 250th anniversary.
The auction traces the evolution of printmaking as a medium of both experimentation and dissemination. Leading the sale is Damien Hirst's The Souls on Jacob's Ladder Take Their Flight from 2007, a complete set of six aquatint and photogravures in colors that exemplifies the artist's iconic butterfly motif. Combining meticulous printmaking techniques with spiritual symbolism, the series draws on the biblical story of Jacob's ladder while embodying Hirst's continued exploration of beauty, transformation, and mortality. It carries an estimate of $80,000 to $120,000.
AMERICA 250
A centerpiece of the auction is AMERICA 250, a dedicated selection of works marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. Bringing together artists across generations, the section examines themes of national identity, popular culture, political history, and America's evolving visual language. Among the highlights is Robert Rauschenberg's Signs from 1970, formerly in the collection of Leo Castelli, a landmark image that distills a pivotal era in American history through its juxtaposition of media imagery, estimated at $25,000 to $35,000. It is joined by Roy Lichtenstein's 1982 I Love Liberty, a bold Pop articulation of national symbolism estimated at $40,000 to $60,000, and by Piano Lesson from the Superhero Portfolio after Jean-Michel Basquiat, which channels the artist's raw visual language and his engagement with history and identity.
Political imagery and cultural critique run throughout the section. Andy Warhol is represented by Birmingham Race Riot from 1964 and by Van Heusen (Ronald Reagan) from 1985, estimated at $25,000 to $35,000, alongside Mel Bochner's 2014 IT DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS, a work that examines language, rhetoric, and contradiction. Black portraiture and identity are explored through Kehinde Wiley's Louis XVI, the Sun King (2006) and Mickalene Thomas' Michelle O (2008) and Condoleezza Rice (2007), while critical perspectives on representation and power emerge in works by Kara Walker, Adrian Piper, Peter Saul, and Renee Cox. American text and signage appear prominently as well, including Ed Ruscha's Made in U.S.A. (1974-75) from the collection of master printer Jean Milant and Cirrus Editions, estimated at $12,000 to $18,000, the artist's America Whistles (1975), and Robert Cottingham's American Signs from 2009. Further highlights include Robert Indiana's Classic Love rug from 1995 and his 1997 The American Dream Book, and Wayne Thiebaud's 1968 Suckers (State II), together with works by Joel Mesler, Amanda Williams, Deborah Kass, and Paul Landacre.
Additional highlights
Beyond AMERICA 250, the sale features key examples of editioned practice across movements and decades. Among them are Alex Katz's Flowers from 2021, a complete set of seven archival pigment prints in colors on Innova Etching Cotton Rag paper estimated at $50,000 to $70,000, as well as Gerhard Richter's Abstraktes Bild (1990/2014), Mel Bochner's Blah, Blah, Blah (2019), Andy Warhol's Mao (1972), and KAWS' KAWSBOB suite (2011). Additional works by Christopher Wool and Richard Hell, Jennifer Bartlett, Kenny Scharf, Ed Ruscha, Robert Motherwell, Rosemarie Trockel, and Dan Flavin further demonstrate the depth and versatility of the medium.
Selected highlights and their estimates include:
The auction will be on view from 17 to 24 June at 432 Park Avenue, New York. The sale arrives as Phillips marks its 230th anniversary in 2026. Founded in London in 1796 by the auctioneer Harry Phillips, the house has long offered a forward-looking approach to sales and collecting across Modern & Contemporary Art, Design, Photographs, Editions, Watches, and Jewels, with its principal auctions held in New York, London, Geneva, and Hong Kong.
Estimates do not include the buyer's premium; prices achieved include the hammer price plus buyer's premium.
(Press Release)
