Ahead of the June Contemporary Art evening auctions in London, Pi-eX Pre-auction Snapshot outlines a few key points observed based on a review of artworks offered by the auction houses this year and an analysis of historical trends.

1. After a two year break, Christie's is back for the June Contemporary Art evening sales:

The 35 additional Christie's lots bring the total number of lots catalogued for the June Contemporary Art evening sales to 114 lots, a 50% increase versus 2018 and about the same number of lots as in 2016.

2. The average Low Estimates of lots to be auctioned at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips is just above £1m, a notable decrease after two years of increasing average prices:

The decrease of the overall average Low Estimate is mostly due to the fact that the additional lots offered by Christie's are in majority in the lower price points categories. This year, there is only one lot with a Low Estimate above £10m, "Self-Portrait" by Francis Bacon which is to be auctioned at Sotheby's.  There were two lots last year. 

3. Ahead of the auctions, a smaller amount of the sale's estimate is covered by guarantees versus 2018:

This year, ahead of the auctions, the total value (based on the Low Estimates) of the lots covered by Auction House's and Third Parties' guarantees was only 42%, compared with 78% in 2018.

The overall figure however hides very diverse situations at each auction house as the value (based on the Low Estimates) of lots covered with guarantees is only 15% at Christie's, versus 57% at Sotheby's and 46% at Phillips.

As usual, these numbers will most likely change right before the auctions as the auctioneers will potentially announce last minute guarantees on additional lots.

After a challenging week for Impressionist Art evening sales in London this June, all eyes are on the Contemporary Art evening Sales, which are scheduled to begin on Tuesday June 25th 2019 at Christie's.

For further information on the historical performance of the June London Contemporary evening auction sales, consult Pi-eX's Fine Art reports by Auction Calendar.