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.
Artnet Auctions has launched "Contemporary Icons: Part II," a summer auction now live for bidding through August 20, 2025. The sale features over 100 lots from a single private collection, including works by blue-chip artists such as Rashid Johnson, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Shara Hughes, Marilyn Minter, Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, and Jean-Baptiste Bernadet. Highlights include Johnson's "Write me In" (est. $120,000–$180,000) and Adeniyi-Jones's "ESHU" (est. $60,000–$80,000). Head of post-war and contemporary art Johannes Vogt noted the rarity of an online auction offering so many lots from one cohesive collection, with most pieces acquired in the last 15 to 20 years.
Sotheby’s New York held its Now & Contemporary Evening Auction on November 18 at the newly opened Breuer building, featuring works by Black artists. Noah Davis’s “The Casting Call” (2008) sold for $2 million, setting a new auction record for the late artist, while Antonio Obá’s “Alvorada – Música Incidental Black Bird” (2020) achieved $1.016 million, nearly ten times its low estimate. However, major paintings by Barkley L. Hendricks and Kerry James Marshall went unsold, highlighting a mixed market for exceptional figurative works. The auction followed a blockbuster sale of Leonard A. Lauder’s collection, where Gustav Klimt’s portrait sold for $234 million.