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Phillips de Pury outsells Sotheby’s in design sales

Sotheby’s held its Fine 20th Century Design sale in London on the 28th April with limited success. The sale raised £576,750, selling only 47 out of the 87 lots on offer, with very few large ticket items. The Phillips de Pury Design sale on 30th April raised considerable more - £2,561,150 from a 168 lot auction. The highlight of the sale of a Mark Newson “Lockhead” chair for £1.1 million, well above its £500,000 – 700,000 estimate.

Christie’s held their 20th Century Decorative Art and Design auction in London on 7th April 2009. Marc Newson continued to lead the Contemporary Design scene with a sale of his Pod of Drawers, designed in 1987 and executed in 1999. The piece went for £361,250, well above its estimate of £150,000 - £250,000.

Marc Newson Pod of Drawers
Christie’s Images Ltd. 2009

For the first time ever, 20th-century design and applied arts were shown at TEFAF (The European Fine Art Fair) Maastricht, demonstrating the increasing profile and respect for design. The fair, held in March 2009, hosted a new section which consisted of seven exhibitors, five of them new to the fair. Designers showcased included George Nakashima, Naum Slutzky, Koloman Moser, Josef Hoffmann and Axel Einar Hjort.

 

Eileen Gray Dragon Chair
Christie’s Images Ltd. 2009		On the subject of understated and timeless pieces, Eileen Gray’s dragon armchair and two-door cabinet fetched record prices at the single-owner sale of Yves St Laurent’s and Pierre Berge’s in Paris on 25th February, selling for €21,905,000 and €3,985,000 respectively. Neglected for most of her career, Eileen Gray (1878 – 1976) is today recognised as one of the most important furniture designers and architects of the early 20th Century.

These two pieces had impeccable provenance, as they featured in one of the most notable Paris interiors of the 1920s, the rue de Lota apartment of Suzanne Talbot. Mme Talbot commissioned Miss Gray to refurbish and furnish her apartment in 1920-22 and gave her considerable creative and artistic freedom to express herself.

 

 

 

Contemporary chair

“The world of contemporary design is in flux, with no single direction or philosophy enjoying a clear ascendancy. Mass-producible universal designs, consumer objects with a degree of personal customisation and limited edition “Design-Art” pieces all jostle for notice in a media-driven world that feeds on novelty rather than on substance.”

- Charlotte and Peter Fiell,  DESIGN NOW!  Taschen 2007

 

 

Although historically the value of works of contemporary design has risen over long-term periods, there have been periods where this has not been the case. There is no guarantee that the contemporary design market will continue to rise in the future.
 


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