Phillips Times Picasso Market Perfectly

Phillips did a lot of things right in last night's sale of 20th Century and Contemporary art that made £97.8m. The most significant was getting (and guaranteeing, in one case) three diverse lots that accounted for two-thirds of the night's total. One was a long-lost Matisse bronze that sold for a remarkable £14.8m; another was John McEnroe's massive Mark Bradford painting, Helter Skelter I, which made £8.6m; but the single most important factor in the success of the sale which finally put Phillips in touch with its peer group was the decision to sell a 1932 Picasso timed to perfection with a London show of similar work (that the consignors had rebuffed when asked to include their example.) That painting sold for £37m or more than a third of the evening's total.