Hirst’s 2007 “Beautiful Artemis Thor Neptune Odin Delusional Sapphic Inspirational Hypnosis Painting,” which was part of a series that appeared in September 2007 during a runway show of his collection for Levi Strauss & Co. at the Gagosian Gallery in Chelsea, found no takers at US$1.8 million tonight. The 51-lot auction took US$9.6 million with fees against the presale US$23 million to US$32 million estimate. Twenty-one lots found no buyers and five were pulled before the sale.

“We have seen a moderation of interest,” said Michael McGinnis, a senior partner at Phillips. “The demand is a lot different than it was six months ago.”

Phillips’s sale followed two lackluster contemporary-art auctions by larger rivals Sotheby’s and Christie’s International this week. The latter two tallied a combined US$238.7 million, 44 percent below their expected total of US$429 million.

“It was pretty brutal,” said Los Angeles-based art collector Stavros Merjos.

Buyers passed both on brand names like Andy Warhol and Jean- Michel Basquiat and on emerging artists like Mark Grotjahn and Anselm Reyle.

The top lot, Donald Judd’s 1977 vertical progression of 10 blue, stainless steel stacks, attracted a single phone bidder who got the work for US$3.2 million, compared with presale estimate range of US$4 million to US$6 million.

The piece appeared on the cover of the sale’s catalog and was considered to be in excellent condition, according to the Judd Foundation.

Prices include a buyer’s premium, or commission, of 25 percent of the hammer price up to US$50,000, 20 percent of the price from US$50,000 to US$1 million, and 12 percent above US$1 million.

Estimates do not reflect commissions.

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