Blek le Rat breaks auction record at Phillips’s “New Now” in London.
Courtesy of Phillips.
French street artist Blek le Rat reached a new auction record at Phillips last Friday at the auction house’s “New Now: Modern & Contemporary Art” sale in London. Tango (2021) sold for £95,250 ($118,472), exceeding the artist’s previous auction record of €70,200 ($74,748), which was set in 2016. It was also the eighth most expensive work from the 160-lot sale, which totaled £3.4 million ($4.3 million), with an 86% sell-through rate by lot.
Blek le Rat, Tango, 2021. Courtesy of Phillips.
The sale was led by two sculptures, Wade Guyton’s U Sculpture (V. 5) (2007), and Invader’s Bruce Lee 3D (2015), which both sold for £203,200 ($252,740) apiece. The other top lots from the sale are as follows:
- Eddie Martinez’s Open Ocean Mind (2020) sold for £127,000 ($157,963).
- Francis Alÿs’s Untitled (1995) sold for £120,650 ($150,064).
- Juan Genovés’s Mirada al horizonte (2008) sold for £120,650 ($150,064).
- Richard Hambleton’s Horse and Rider (2012) sold for £101,600 (126,370).
In addition to Blek le Rat, three other artists achieved new auction records at the sale. These were as follows:
- Leonard Baby’s Medicine Cabinet (2022) sold for £24,130 ($30,013).
- Christopher Page’s Globe (2019) sold for £40,640 ($50,548).
- Yves Zurstrassen’s 180327 Still Life (2018) sold for £53,340 ($66,344).
