Instagram is the new place to launch your auction lots. Robert Manley returns from his garden leave to join Phillips with this interesting twist. The Donald Judd stack he’s offering in November will be sold without a reserve. That means it will sell even if someone bids only a dollar.
Why would a consignor agree to that? Well, the conventional thinking is that no-reserve sales are like low estimates, they bring out the chancers and the dreamers. Once they’re hooked, the bidder can stay in for a lot longer than they might have thought possible.
This particular stack hasn’t been off the market for very long. It last sold at Christie’s in 2011 when it made $2m.