The world’s leading art and auction house, Phillips de Pury, is keen to make a ‘big splash’ in a clear indication of the fact that the art market is on its recovery path. The New York Times reports that Phillips de Pury is about to open its plush 25,000-sq-ft new space on Park Avenue & 57th Street.
It apparently wants to steal some spotlight from Sotheby’s and Christie’s. Philippe Ségalot, a former head of contemporary art dept at Christie’s, is leading the charge. Incidentally, he collaborated with Phillips a contemporary photography sale in 2004. Now he has consented to a new initiative in which the company will invite a dealer, artist, collector, or museum curator for one sale.
According to the chairman, Simon de Pury, it is like inviting a ‘guest curator at a museum.’ The initiative will be extended beyond New York to London, he added to inform that though the focus would be largely on contemporary art, there could even be design objects on offer in the sale.
Mr. Ségalot’s auction may well be an individual art event or the part of their evening contemporary auction. He was already working to put together his sale. Providing the details, he informed that it would comprise ‘Mechanical Pig’, from 2005. It’s a seminal work by Los Angeles based artist Paul McCarthy. The news report noted:
“It’s a sculpture of a sleeping pig lying on its side atop a machine. Viewers could see the pig visibly breathing. One of an edition of three, it’s sold by Stefan Edlis, a Chicago collector, and is estimated at $2.5 million to $3.5 million."
When prodded about the task of finding more crucial works, he was quoted as saying. “I’m really happy to be back in the game because I always enjoy a challenge.” All in all, it seems that the battle between the three global auction giants is just going to hot up. Collectors can look forward to really interesting times!
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