“Untitled” (2009) by Adrian Ghenie. Credit via Phillips
LONDON — The art market on Monday night felt the first effects of Britain’s momentous “Brexit” vote when Phillips held an auction of 20th-century and contemporary art at its grand European headquarters in London.
The event, the first in a week of bellwether contemporary art sales held by all three major international houses, raised 11.9 million British pounds with fees, or about $15.7 million, from 31 lots. (It had been estimated to take at least £10.2 million, or $13.5 million.) Thirty-two percent of the lots were unsold. The company’s equivalent contemporary auction last June, containing 50 lots, grossed £18.2 million with 16 percent failing to sell.
