London, 24 February 2025 - Phillips has unveiled highlights from its upcoming Modern & Contemporary Art Evening and Day Sales, taking place on 6 and 7 March in London. Led by Joan Mitchell and Jean-Michel Basquiat, the Evening Sale brings together prominent works by Le Corbusier, Yayoi Kusama, Christopher Wool, and Pablo Picasso, alongside cutting-edge pieces by Florian Krewer, Nathanaëlle Herbelin, and auction newcomer Ding Shilun. The Day Sale will feature a diverse range of artists, including Dame Elisabeth Frink, George Condo, and Anish Kapoor. The Evening Sale is set for 6 March at 5pm GMT, followed by the Day Sale on 7 March at 1pm GMT, with a public preview at Phillips' Berkeley Square Galleries running from 27 February to 7 March.
Olivia Thornton, Phillips' Head of Modern & Contemporary Art, Europe, said, "We are delighted to present a selection of exciting blue-chip contemporary and post-war masterpieces this season. Leading the Evening Sale are landmark works by Joan Mitchell and Jean-Michel Basquiat, and the auction also highlights exceptional works by Pablo Picasso from prestigious collections, alongside highly sought-after pieces by Lucio Fontana, Sean Scully, and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye." She added that the sales "embody Phillips' signature approach," bringing together modern legends and contemporary visionaries to offer collectors an exceptional and diverse selection.
The leading lots of the Evening Sale
Joan Mitchell's Canada II (1975), estimated at £3,000,000 to £5,000,000, is a triptych from her acclaimed Canada series, reflecting her deep connection to the natural world and her mastery of gestural abstraction. Created just after her Whitney Museum solo exhibition and before her first show with the art dealer Xavier Fourcade, the painting translates memory, movement, and emotion into color and form. Works from the series reside in esteemed private and public collections, including Canada I, which is housed in the Guggenheim Museum.
Jean-Michel Basquiat's Pattya (1984), estimated at £2,000,000 to £3,000,000, was inspired by the artist's travels through Thailand in 1983 with the interdisciplinary artist Lee Jaffe. A world away from the buzz of downtown New York, the painting is a striking record of an adventurous trip at a crucial moment in the young artist's meteoric rise to fame, and was featured in Gagosian's landmark 2013 Basquiat exhibition in Hong Kong. Presented at auction for the first time, Le Corbusier's Personnages devant une porte et main (1931), estimated at £950,000 to £1,200,000, boasts exceptional provenance, having remained in the same family collection since it was acquired directly from the artist. Closely related to a sister piece in the Centre Pompidou, the work reflects Le Corbusier's evolution beyond Purism, reintroducing biomorphic forms, vibrant color, and dynamic figuration.
Yayoi Kusama is represented by two works central to her celebrated oeuvre. INFINITY-NETS [APPGF] (2017), estimated at £700,000 to £1,000,000, is an exquisite example of the revered Infinity Nets series she first conceived after moving to New York in 1958, and makes its auction debut in the Evening Sale, while Pumpkin (2006) carries an estimate of £400,000 to £600,000. Christopher Wool's Lester's Sister (My Brain) (2020), estimated at £1,200,000 to £1,800,000, exemplifies his radical reinvention of painting, merging mechanical reproduction with gestural abstraction and embodying his signature tension between control and chaos. An additional Wool highlight, Untitled (1997), is estimated at £600,000 to £800,000.
Painted soon after Jean Dubuffet's second trip to the Algerian Sahara, Arabe au désert (1948), estimated at £350,000 to £550,000, is a rare early work from a limited series of just 18 paintings created between May and June 1948, with only 12 reflecting his North African experience. Other works from the group reside in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Victoria and the Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe. Marking Nathanaëlle Herbelin's auction debut, Max (2015 to 2022) is estimated at £25,000 to £35,000; the Franco-Israeli artist, recently celebrated with a solo exhibition at the Musée d'Orsay, modernizes the tradition of interior portraiture. Further cutting-edge highlights include Florian Krewer's Untitled and Ding Shilun's auction debut with The adoption of the maiden.
Two late Picassos
Two exceptional works by Pablo Picasso feature in the Evening Sale, each offering a compelling glimpse into the artist's late career and his engagement with the artist-model dynamic. Making its auction debut, Tête d'homme et nu assis (1964), estimated at £1,500,000 to £2,000,000, hails from a prestigious European collection, having remained in the possession of Picasso's widow and last great muse, Jacqueline Roque, throughout her lifetime. Executed in 1970, Nu debout et nu assis, estimated at £400,000 to £600,000, comes from the Collection of Marcel Brient. Created just before Picasso's 89th birthday, the striking composition juxtaposes a vibrant seated nude with a delicately sketched standing figure believed to depict Jacqueline.
Highlights of the Day Sale
Leading the Day Sale is Dame Elisabeth Frink's Seated Man II (1986), estimated at £300,000 to £400,000. Conceived during a pivotal period in the artist's career, the work departs from her earlier wartime-influenced figures for a more contemplative and stoic presence, the seated nude reflecting both strength and vulnerability through its broad, solid build and textured, layered surface, a hallmark of Frink's sculptural technique. George Condo's Untitled (circa 2008 to 2010), estimated at £250,000 to £350,000, is a striking fusion of art history and contemporary expression in which his signature "Psychological Cubism" animates a sitter shown in 15th century attire layered over contemporary clothing. Further highlights of the Day Sale include the following works.
The two sales are held at Phillips' London headquarters at 30 Berkeley Square, with full auction catalogs available online. As a leading global platform for buying and selling 20th and 21st century works, Phillips offers dedicated expertise in Modern and Contemporary Art, Design, Photographs, Editions, Watches, and Jewels, with auctions and exhibitions held primarily in New York, London, Geneva, and Hong Kong.
Estimates do not include buyer's premium; prices achieved include the hammer price plus buyer's premium.
(Press Release)
