The auction had 11 guaranteed lots, all financed by third parties, according to Christie’s. Most items were purchased by Christie’s staffers on behalf of clients bidding by phone. The room, filled with advisers, dealers and collectors, was often muted. The sale was attended by actor Christian Slater, heiress Paris Hilton and billionaire money manager Steven A. Cohen.
David Hammons’s stone and hair sculpture, “Stone Head,” consigned by Michael Evans, former vice chairman of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., fetched $1 million, within the estimated range. An oversize stick of butter -- a beeswax sculpture by Robert Gober -- fetched $2.3 million, also within the estimate.
“For difficult conceptual art, the result was quite good,” Christophe van de Weghe, an art dealer in New York, said about the Christie’s sale. “This is not easy material. A stone with some hair on it -- it’s tough.”
Phillips’s sale, which followed Christie’s, tallied $46.6 million, within the estimated range, but half of its total a year ago. Of the 37 lots, three failed to sell and two artist records were set. The auction house had 20 guaranteed lots.
The top lot was Brice Marden’s somber painting “Star (for Patti Smith)" that fetched $6 million, within the presale target. A sculpture of two naked children by Jeff Koons sold for $5.8 million, also within the estimate. A small sculpture by Cattelan titled “Mini-Me" fetched $749,000, surpassing its high estimate.
“The froth is coming off and it’s great,” said Edward Tyler Nahem, an art dealer in New York. “It eliminates speculators and brings back true collectors.”