The answer would seem to be Yes, judging by the unprecedented total of £2.9m Bonhams achieved at the first Mods & Contemps sale in their new Bond Street setting.
Around half this total was contributed by a c.1916 Amadeo Modigliani (1884-1920) half-length portrait, Christina, measuring 2ft 7 1/2in by 2ft 3in (80 x 69cm) and estimated at £700,000-£1m. While not being one of the artist's masterpieces, this was at least totally market-fresh and it was knocked down in the room at £1.4m to a US dealer, bidding on behalf of a client, underbid by a UK collector in the room.
It remains open to question whether a modernist makeover made the Modigliani vendor more confident about consigning with Bonhams, but there was no doubt that the old Blenstock House rabbit warren wouldn't have been able to cope with a piece like Quantum Cloud XIV, right, by Anthony Gormley (b.1951).
Entered by a collector who simply didn't have room to display it, this 8ft 2 1/2in (2.5m) high stainless steel sculpture dating from 2000 had plenty of space to breath in Bonham's new atrium gallery and, despite the challenges it poses to anyone who is thinking of moving, it nonetheless sold to a European dealer at a lower-estimate £80,000, which is a record for the artist.
"Younger, edgier things fared the best at this sale," commented specialist in charge Howard Rutkowski, who, like so many other auctioneers, identifies cutting-edge Contemporary as the key growth market.
"It's very buzzy. There are many more collectors entering the market at different levels. A million pounds won't buy you much in the Modern market, but it will in the field of Contemporary."
Interestingly, with that analysis in mind, Bonhams are scheduling to hold their second Modern and Contemporary sale in October to coincide with the Frieze Art Fair, rather than the main Impressionist and Modern sales in February.
