Rashid Johnson's mixed media work *Untitled Escape Collage* sold for $292,100 at Phillips's Modern and contemporary art day sale in New York on May 14, falling short of its low estimate and representing a 72 percent loss in value for the consignor, who had purchased it for $816,500 at the same auction house in 2022. The disappointing result coincides with Johnson's solo exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.
The auction outcome highlights a recurring pattern in the art market where a major museum solo show—sometimes called 'the Guggenheim's kiss of death'—can negatively impact an artist's auction prices, as previously seen with Christopher Wool, Richard Prince, and Alex Katz. However, the market remains unpredictable: within the same week, Johnson's *Two Standing Broken Men* (2018) sold for $1.76 million at Sotheby's, well above its estimate, underscoring the volatility and selectivity of the contemporary art market.