Kenny Schachter did yeoman’s work in London last week compiling a guide to the market fortunes of the young and restlessly collected. Here’s Schachter’s report on four of the market darlings from last week:
Eddie Peake, the 32-year-old son of artist Phyllida Barlow. Mr. Peake has just sold out his first solo exhibition with Javier Peres gallery in Berlin. At Christie’s, his 2013 artwork Syc Aro Tin—lacquered spray paint on polished stainless steel—sold for £32,500 ($54,000), more than double its £15,000 ($25,000) high estimate. […] It shouldn’t be long before loads of Peakes come out of the woodwork and into the marketplace; that’s the way it usually goes.
David Ostrowski: The eyebrow-raising result was the £86,500 ($145,000) achieved for the 2012 painting F (A thing is a thing in a whole which it’s not), by young Cologne-based artist David Ostrowski. This was Mr. Ostrowski’s auction debut, and the piece’s high pre-sale estimate was just £15,000 ($25,000). Stay tuned—his market is likely to combust.
Lucien Smith: there were six works in all by Mr. Smith in the day sales, and overall he held his market position, and continued to make remarkably strong prices. His small (24-by-18-inch) rain works, dated 2011–12, hit £47,500 ($79,000) at Phillips and £48,750 ($81,000) at Sotheby’s. Unsurprisingly, there’s already a handful more pieces slated for the upcoming midterm New York sales in March coinciding with the Armory Show; look for the momentum to stay strong, for the time being at least. (Incidentally, Mr. Smith’s pie tins from 2012-13—does he intend them as pies in our collective face?—went for £15,000 ($25,000) at Phillips and £30,000 ($50,000) at Sotheby’s, which would tend to confirm my long held maxim: better to sell at Christies and Sotheby’s and buy at Phillips, which is still (and will probably always be) the junior market maker.)
Parker Ito: Another much-discussed result at the day sales was the £56,250 ($94,000) paid at Sotheby’s forThe Agony and the Ecstasy, a 2012 artwork by auction first-timer Parker Ito (b. 1986). The piece was estimated at only £15,000 ($25,000).
Day Tripper: Kenny Schachter at the London Day Sales (Gallerist)
