On 18th October the auction house Phillips de Pury & Co. in London is opening two sessions dedicated to contemporary art, that will end the same day with the last round. A sale that will present author’s pieces, differing from the auctions of contemporary proposed by the other auction houses. Let’s consider Christie’s and Sotheby’s. If we observe their sales of contemporary art we can admire lots that have a great artistic quality, produced, however, only by artists who are now too valued within the system. In other words, the usual names who are known even by those who are not specialized on the subject and that most times belong to movements from the Fifties and Sixties. On the contrary, Phillips de Pury often plays the novelty factor, proposing to the salesroom public works executed by authors from the Nineties and the New Century and especially artists who belong to the new geographical realities of art, such as China and Russia.
A very interesting auction for collectors of contemporary art, who will have the chance to purchase important pieces, including many masterpieces of the greatest celebrities of the contemporary art system.
Among the ones worth pointing out, that will be presented in London, there is “Tongari-Kun” by Takashi Murakami, which will be put up for auction with an estimate between 3,500,000 and 4,500,000 pounds. An important amount that proves that the Nipponese artist’s quotations are steady, even in a period of economic crisis. A safe investment? A bailout good? A business deal pumped up by speculators, destined to explode like a soap bubble any day? These are all legitimate questions in front of this estimate, which is ridiculous for big collectors who are always ready to fork out money, but important for the smaller lovers of contemporary art. 
The selection of the London auction is also characterized by the presence of an important work by Juan Mitchell, abstract expressionist artist belonging to the second generation. It is a beautiful oil on canvas from 1983, entitled “La Grande Vallèe”, which comes from the Galerie Jean Fournier in Paris, and will start with a valuation of 2-3 million pounds. 
Among the works by great stars of contemporary art we also find “Light Blue Movers” by Jean Michel Basquiat (estimate 1,800,000 – 2,500,000 pounds) and “Untitled, 1983” by Keith Haring (estimate 800,000 – 1,200,000 pounds).
Of course, Andy Warhol could not be missing, this artist who with his masterpieces reaches sky-high prices at auctions. In the last years we have seen many collectors willing to pay a fortune just to own an original “Warhol”. His personal record was set in 2007, when at Christie’s New York, “Green Car Crash” was sold for 64 million dollars, against an initial estimate of 25-35 million dollars. But other quotations of the Business Art genius have caused a sensation within the market: “Liz” in autumn 2007, showed how the market of contemporary art is valued more thanks to its growth margins, unlike the old masters. English artist Hugh Grant knows something about this, having sold at Christie’s “Liz” for 23.7 million dollars: 8.7 more than he had paid for it six years earlier. With the times we are living in we hope that these rises in the art market remain constant.
The highlights of Warhol’s works (altogether 5) to be presented on 18th October by Phillips are: “Dollar Sign” from 1981 (estimate 150-200 thousand pounds), “Flowers” from 1964 (estimate 600-800 thousand pounds), “Mao” (estimate 350-450 thousand pounds).
On the other hand, for those who are passionate about works by contemporary figurative artists, Phillips’s sale is an excellent occasion, as there will be works by Marlene Dumas, such as “Cleaning The Pole” (estimate 400-600 thousand pounds) and a painting by  Elizabeth Peyton, entitled “Princess Elizabeth Age 16” (estimate 250-350 thousand pounds).
The presence of art Made in China, in an auction of contemporary, is unmissable, such as Zeng Fanzhi, one of the highest quoted Chinese artists of the moment, with “Little Girl 2004” (estimate 400-600 thousand pounds), Zhang Xiogang with “Bloodline Series: A boy 2002” (estimate 200-300 thousand pounds) and Yue Minjun with “Contemporary Terracotta Warriors No.7”(estimate 500-750 thousand pounds). The latter has recently made news for setting the absolute sale record for any contemporary Chinese artist: with his “Execution” from 1995, sold by Sotheby’s London for 3,730,913 euros, Yue Minjun has entered the Olympus of the most paid artists of the great advance of Chinese art on international markets.
Highlights of the auction dedicated to Contemporary Art are: “What Can You Do?” (estimate 400-600 thousand dollars) by Richard Price; “Untitled, 1998” by Donald Judd (estimate 550-750 thousand pounds); “Untitled, 2004” (estimate 300-500 thousand pounds) “Special Edition Silver $” by Tim Noble & Sue Webster (estimate 200-300 thousand pounds) and “das Grabin in deb Luften (A Tomb in the Sky)” by Anselm Kiefer (estimate 700-900 thousand dollars). (translated by Giorgina Arcuri)