East Meets West at Phillips

The sale of the John L. Stewart Collection of Russian Contemporary Art got off to a dubious start last night when Simon de Pury failed to coax the low estimates for the first two lots out of bidders. But when Ivan Chuikov's Fragment, Postcard and Self Portrait came up, it got £78,000 (including buyer's premium), setting a new record for the artist at auction; it was directly followed by Vladimir Dubossarsky & Alexsander Vinogradov's Snow, which brought £108,000, becoming one of the top ten lots of the sale.

Although the hammer prices for the pieces with the highest estimates — Erik Bulatov's Perestroika at £500,000 - £750,000 and the artist's Breshnev, Soviet Cosmos at £750,000 - £1 million — either failed to meet or just made their low estimates, the sale overall suggested that there is plenty of money interested in the emerging market for Russian contemporary art.

Simon Faibisovich's Soldiers (Train Station series) sparked a bidding war, eventually fetching the fourth highest price of the sale, £311,200, and establishing an auction record for the artist, who previously did not have one. The audience broke out in applause and cheers.

One buyer — a man dressed in tight jeans with a plaid blazer over a striped shirt and wearing thickly-rimmed rectangular glasses — bought no less than six works, dropping more than £300,000 as a teenager wearing a black baseball cap cocked to the side and a man flanked him on either side.

Phillips staff had a hard time keeping the noise in the salesroom down to a low roar, as people chatted and moved back and forth between the auction and a lounge serving refreshments. Staid event, this was not. Unsurprising, as Phillips has been marketing itself as the auction house for younger, hipper collectors. At one point, de Pury, clearly frustrated, said, "Thank you for finally being silent," when the crowd had briefly been subdued.

The auctioneer managed to keep the momentum going on the last two lots of the Stewart Collection, urging bidders, "Make up your mind. Dot it fast. Quick." He brought the hammer down on both Andrei Filippov's November and Vladimir Dubossarsky & Alexsander Vinogradov's Torch, estimated at £1,000 - £1,500 and £2,500 - £3,5000, respectively, at £11,000 (not including buyer's premium).

With the last lot of the Stewart Collection, de Pury's duties for the evening were done, as Brook Hazelton stepped in to sell Howard and Patricia Farber's collection of contemporary Chinese art. If the interest in this segment of the market is a trend, it's still going strong.

All of the first nine lots went at or above their high estimates, with Wang Guangyi's Great Criticism: Coca-Cola bringing £893,600 (including buyer's premium). The top two lots in the sale broke £1 million (with the dollar so weak, more broke $1 million): Another Wang Guangyi piece, Mao AO, fetched £2,036,000, beating the artist's previous auction record by a factor greater than six; and Zeng Fanzhi's Xiehe Hospital Series Triptych got £2,764,000, more than tripling the artist's previous record at auction. Both lots received applause and cheers from the crowd.

The jam-packed salesroom was as, if not more, animated for the Farber sale, with staff "shhh-ing" paddle-holders and onlookers. A Phillips employee taking telephone bids even got into the exuberance when she loudly called out, as opposed to subtly signaling, £30,000 for Feng Zhengjie's Bubble No. 3 — it ultimately got £62,400. "Who wants to shout out another bid. I like that," Hazelton said.

He had difficulty sustaining bidding towards the end of the sale, with lots passing or going below their low estimates, but ended on a high note, bringing the hammer down at £30,000 for a work by Ye Yongqing. The floor erupted in thunderous applause and cheers — probably just as much out of relief that the epic event had come to an end as for the strong performance of the Farber Collection. As people poured into 8 Howick Place and the band got under way, Hazelton said he was very pleased with the evening's results. When I left, hundreds of people were reveling, some with a flute of Perrier Jouët in one hand and one of the ice cream cups being served in the other.