Lot 39: AMOAKO BOAFO Amoako Boafo, “Lighter,” 2018 (oil and collage on paper, 59 x 55 inches / 149.9 x 139.7 cm). Estimate $40,000-$60,000. Sold for $325,000 fees included. TOP LOT
PHILLIPS AUCTION HOUSE held its New Now auction on Sept. 30 in New York and “Lighter” by Amoako Boafo was the top lot. The 2018 painting was featured last year in “Amoako Boafo: I See Me,” the artist’s debut exhibition at Roberts Projects in Los Angeles. Works by Titus Kaphar (No. 3) and Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe (No. 6) were also among the top 10 results in the emerging artists sale. All three lots far exceeded expectations. Boafo’s painting garnered exponentially more than its estimates ($40,000-$60,000) climbing to $325,000, fees included.
Both Boafo and Kaphar recently joined new galleries where their work is currently on view. Kaphar lives and works in New Haven, Conn. His first solo exhibition at Gagosian recently opened in New York. “Titus Kaphar: From a Tropical Space” runs through Dec. 19. Ghana-born Boafo is based in Vienna, Austria. “Amoako Boafo: I Stand By Me,” his first solo exhibition with Mariane Ibrahim gallery in Chicago is showing through Oct. 24.
The New Now sale introduced six new artists to the auction market, including Arcmanoro Niles, who joined Lehmann Maupin gallery last month. Eight new artist records were set and Firelei Báez, Marcus Jahmal, and Rodney McMillian were among those who achieved new benchmarks.
Works by Michael Ray Charles, Charles Gaines, Oscar Murillo, Tony Lewis, Henry Taylor, Nina Chanel Abney, and Vaughn Spann, were also featured in the sale.
In a statement, Sam Mansour, head of the New Now sale in New York, said the event was the first auction broadcast from Phillips’ New York salesroom in more than six months, given the pause in sales and new approach to conducting auctions in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mansour added that bidders from nearly 50 countries participated in the 190-lot sale. CT
READ MORE about why reselling art shortly after it is acquired from an artist or their gallery is problematic
Lot 40: TITUS KAPHAR, “Study of the Suitor: Harper Caldwell Jr.,” 2011 (tar on canvas, 48 x 36 inhces / 121.9 x 91.4 cm). Estimate $30,000 – 50,000. Sold for $187,500 fees included. NO. 3 LOT
Lot 37: OTIS KWAME KYE QUAICOE, “Old Town Boy,” 2018 (oil on canvas, 48 x 36 inches / 121.9 x 91.4 cm). | Estimate $30,000-$50,000. Sold for $137,500 fees includes. NO. 6 LOT
Lot 41: Michael Ray Charles, “(Forever Free) The Watermelon Party,” 1996 (acrylic and copper penny on wooden panel, in 2 parts, 107 x 47 inches / 271.8 x 119.4 cm). Estimate $30,000-$50,000. Sold for $87,500 fees included
Lot 5: FIRELEI BÁEZ, “Megan (lugar a dudas),” 2017 (acrylic and ink on Yupo paper, 30 x 20 in. (76.2 x 50.8 cm). | Estimate $10,000-$15,000. Sold for $46,250 fees included. RECORD
Lot 38: MARCUS JAHMAL, “Mystical forest trooper,” 2017 (acrylic on canvas, 72 x 60 inches / 182.9 x 152.4 cm). | Estimate $10,000-$15,000. Sold for $33,750 fees included. RECORD
Lot 6: ARCMANORO NILES, “Homegrown,” 2018 (oil and acrylic on canvas, 20 x 18 1/4 inches / 50.8 x 46.4 cm). | Estimate $3,000-$5,000. Sold for $23,750 fees included. AUCTION DEBUT
Lot 102: CHARLES GAINES, “Explosion #29,” 2009 (graphite on paper, in 2 parts, i: 41 x 31 inches / 104.1 x 78.7 cm)(ii) 13 x 14 5/8 in. (33 x 37.1 cm). | Estimate $20,000-$30,000. Sold for $20,000 fees included
Lot 188: RODNEY MCMILLIAN, “Untitled (Twin),” 2008-11 (latex on bed sheet, 51 x 34 x 22 inches / 129.5 x 86.4 x 55.9 cm, as installed). | Estimate $15,000-$20,000. Sold for $27,500 fees included. RECORD
BOOKSHELF
“Titus Kaphar: Language of the Forgotten” is a self-published volume. “Firelei Baez : Bloodlines” documents the artist’s practice. “Charles Gaines: Gridwork 1974-1989” was published to coincide with an exhibition presented at the Studio Museum in Harlem and Hammer Museum. Also consider, “Charles Gaines: Palm Trees and Other Works,” published earlier this year. “Michael Ray Charles: A Retrospective” accompanied a recent exhibition at the UMLAUF Sculpture Garden + Museum in Austin, Texas. An earlier volume, “Michael Ray Charles,” also explores his work. “Rodney McMillian” was published on the occasion of the artist’s Aspen Art Museum exhibition and “Rodney McMillian: The Black Show and Rodney McMillian: Views of Main Street” documents his exhibition that was on view at the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania and The Studio Museum in Harlem.
