Post-War and Contemporary Auctions, London, October 2017

Frieze Week auctions wrapped up on Saturday with a solid sale at Phillips and the surprise flop of a Francis Bacon painting that had been estimated to sell for around £60 million at Christie’s. Sotheby’s lackluster double-barreled sale of Contemporary art saw several big hits and many more misses.

Overall, the sale brought the week’s total for Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and Phillips’s Post-war and Contemporary evening auctions to £173 million with buyer’s fees. That’s a 74% increase over 2016’s combined October sales. Although some of the increase is thanks to a change in the house’s buyer’s premiums, which Phillips raised in mid-September following similar announcements from Sotheby’s and Christie’s.