New York, 30 April 2026 - Phillips has unveiled highlights from its upcoming Evening Sale of Modern & Contemporary Art in New York, a tightly curated auction set for 19 May that brings together rare and exemplary works by canonical artists including Andy Warhol, Claude Monet, Gerhard Richter, and Joan Mitchell, alongside standout contemporary voices. Anchored by important private collections, notably Property from the Estate of Tina Hills and The Collection of Ambassador John L. Loeb Jr., the sale will offer 42 works that are expected to realize a combined total in excess of $87 million, nearly double the estimate of the same sale last year. Many of the works appear at auction for the first time.
Robert Manley, Chairman, Modern & Contemporary Art, said, "The strength of this season's Evening Sale reflects the depth and dynamism of the market at the highest level, bringing together over forty works that span the history of Impressionism, Modern, Post-War, and Contemporary art, while remaining exceptionally focused on quality and rarity." He added that the house is "honored to present distinguished private collections such as the Estate of Tina Hills, which was built with remarkable vision around expressive, color-driven abstraction, and The Collection of Ambassador John L. Loeb Jr., widely regarded as the most important private holding of Danish art ever assembled." Among the singular works he cited was Lee Bontecou's Untitled, "a work that stands apart within her practice and represents a rare moment of ambition and scale."
The leading lots
Painted in 1964, Andy Warhol's Sixteen Jackies leads the Evening Sale, carrying an estimate of $15,000,000 to $20,000,000. A vivid articulation of Warhol's signature method of appropriation and multiplication, it transforms a single press photograph of Jacqueline Kennedy into a relentless visual refrain, intensifying her iconic status while laying bare the mechanisms through which images are circulated, fixed, and endlessly renewed in Post-War American culture. A second Warhol, 4 Colored Marilyns (Reversal Series), executed in 1979-1986 and estimated at $4,000,000 to $6,000,000, has never before been featured at auction, making its public offering all the more timely in the year that would have been Marilyn Monroe's 100th birthday.
Claude Monet's La route de Vétheuil, effet de neige, estimated at $7,000,000 to $10,000,000, captures the stillness of a bright winter's day with remarkable clarity. Painted en plein air in 1879, during one of the most productive periods of Monet's career, it is the first and most luminous of three closely related winter scenes depicting the road into Vétheuil. In the nearly 150 years since its creation, the work has been extensively exhibited at major institutions including The Phillips Collection, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and The Brooklyn Museum of Art.
Further highlights span the Post-War and contemporary fields. Gerhard Richter's Besen, painted in 1984 and estimated at $6,500,000 to $8,500,000, marks a decisive juncture in his oeuvre, when his long-standing dialectic between photography and painting culminates in the expansive language of the Abstrakte Bilder. Pat Passlof's Fortune, a major canvas from 1960 estimated at $300,000 to $500,000, is offered for the first time at auction and marks the artist's debut in an Evening Sale, reflecting Phillips' ongoing commitment to championing underrepresented artists. Salman Toor's Two Friends, painted in 2020 and estimated at $180,000 to $250,000, belongs to the body of work that defined the artist's breakthrough, fusing the visual language of European painting with scenes drawn from contemporary queer life.
The Collection of Ambassador John L. Loeb Jr.
As previously announced, Phillips will present The Collection of Ambassador John L. Loeb Jr., the most important collection of Danish artwork in private hands, across the May Modern & Contemporary Art sales in New York. The collection made a commanding debut in London in early March, where the group collectively achieved twice its high estimate, and where five Danish museums acquired six works across the auctions, including Ordrupgaard, SMK, The David Collection, Randers Kunstmuseum, and Ribe Kunstmuseum. More than 100 works from the collection will be offered during the Modern & Contemporary Art auctions on 19 and 21 May, as well as in an online-only auction at the end of the month. Leading the group is Vilhelm Hammershøi's Courtyard Interior at Strandgade 30, painted circa 1905 and estimated at $3,000,000 to $5,000,000, which balances the quietude of daily life with a staggering painterly Modernism 120 years after its creation.
Additional highlights
The Evening Sale takes place on 19 May 2026 at 5pm ET at 432 Park Avenue, New York, with viewing from 9 to 19 May. The sale arrives as Phillips marks its 230th anniversary in 2026, celebrating more than two centuries at the forefront of the global market for Modern & Contemporary Art, Design, and Luxury. Founded in 1796 by the auctioneer Harry Phillips, the house today remains true to the entrepreneurial spirit of its founder while redefining the role of a 21st century auction house.
Estimates do not include buyer's premium; prices achieved include the hammer price plus buyer's premium.
(Press Release)
