Marian Goodman’s Gerhard Richters Total $78.8 Million in $162.7 Million Christie’s Sale

Christie’s 21st-century evening sale in New York on Wednesday achieved $162.7 million, its highest total in the category since 2021. The sale featured eight works from the collection of the late dealer Marian Goodman by Gerhard Richter, which together sold for $78.8 million, nearly half the evening’s haul. Richter’s photorealistic candle painting *Kerze (Candle)* (1982) hammered at $30 million, below its $35 million low estimate, but still set a new auction record for the series. Other Richters performed strongly, with six of seven exceeding high estimates, including *Mohn (Poppy)* (1995) at $20.1 million. A modest Basquiat work on paper, *Asbestos*, sold for $6.54 million, and one lot by Ed Ruscha was bought in.

Eyes Wide Open! Kenny Schachter Dishes on Delinquent Dealers, Secret Deals, and That Other ‘Salvator Mundi’

Kenny Schachter offers a sardonic, first-person account of the spring 2025 art season in New York, weaving together observations from auctions, art fairs, and gallery openings. He notes brisk business at Sotheby's and Phillips, citing specific sales like James Ensor's tiny "Still life with Stingray" ($140,800) and Georgia O'Keeffe's double-sided "Maple Leaves and Flowering Cactus" ($1.68 million). Schachter also recounts his experience at Larry Gagosian's new Madison Avenue gallery, where security guards outnumbered the artworks, and reflects on the broader economic climate, including a tax lawyer moonlighting as a 3-D printer for his own sculpture project. He contrasts the wealthiest collectors—one driving a Lamborghini but staying at a Holiday Inn Express—with dealers wearing grim faces at TEFAF, painting a picture of a bifurcated art economy.

Tracey Emin, Katharina Grosse, and More Rally to Raise $2.7 Million for South London Gallery

Christie’s is partnering with the South London Gallery (SLG) on a special selling exhibition featuring works donated by 28 artists, including Tracey Emin, Frank Bowling, Katharina Grosse, Alvaro Barrington, and Ryan Gander. The exhibition is part of SLG’s “SLG Forever” fundraising campaign, which aims to raise £2 million ($2.7 million) to renovate the gallery’s historic Victorian building and support its outreach programs. The show will be open to the public at Christie’s London from June 5–25, with extended hours during London Gallery Weekend, and will continue online until September 30.

Marian Goodman’s $35.1 M. Richter ‘Candle’ Leads Christie’s Tepid $162.7 M. Trio of Postwar and Contemporary Sales

Christie’s New York held a trio of postwar and contemporary art evening sales on Wednesday night, totaling $162.7 million with fees, just meeting expectations. The auction was led by a Gerhard Richter painting, *Kerze (Candle)*, which sold for $35.1 million, and featured a collection of eight Richter works from the estate of revered dealer Marian Goodman, which collectively hammered at $66 million. Other highlights included a Donald Judd stack from the estate of collector Henry S. McNeil, selling for $12.8 million, and a Richter *Mohn (Poppy)* that achieved $20.1 million. Only one lot, an Ed Ruscha canvas, failed to sell.

Christie’s Posts ‘Rock Solid’ Contemporary Sale, Led by Marian Goodman’s Gerhard Richters

Christie’s 21st-century evening auction in New York on May 20 brought in $162.7 million, a 69 percent increase from the same sale last year and the house’s highest New York evening total in the category since 2021. The sale featured 42 lots, including a single-owner collection of Minimalist works owned by Henry S. McNeil Jr. and eight Gerhard Richter works from the collection of the late gallerist Marian Goodman. The top lot was Richter’s photorealistic painting *Kerze (Candle)* (1982), which sold for $35.1 million, falling short of its $50 million high estimate. Other notable results included a Donald Judd Plexiglas stack that sold for $12.8 million and works by Richard Artschwager and Carl Andre that far exceeded their low estimates.

Richter and Judd works top Christie's solid if not stellar sale of post-war and contemporary art

Christie’s held a two-part evening sale on May 20, featuring 42 lots from the estate of dealer Marian Goodman and the single-owner collection of Henry S. McNeil Jr. The auction achieved a hammer total of $132 million ($162.6 million with fees), just above the low end of its pre-sale estimate. The top lot was Donald Judd’s untitled plexiglass and copper stack sculpture, which sold for $12.8 million with fees, setting a new record for a Judd stack at auction. A surprise standout was Richard Artschwager’s Two-Part Invention (1967), which hammered at $500,000—more than six times its high estimate. The McNeil collection achieved a white-glove sale, while all but two of the eight Gerhard Richter works from the Goodman collection were guaranteed by third parties.

TEFAF New York 2026: Contemporary Gains Ground

TEFAF New York 2026 is set to feature a stronger contemporary art presence, signaling a shift in the fair's traditional focus on Old Masters and antiques. The event will expand its contemporary offerings, attracting a broader range of galleries and collectors.

Heffel’s spring sales, featuring rediscovered royal portrait and E.J. Hughes seascape, tally $16.2m

Heffel's spring auction in Toronto on 21 May achieved a total of C$22.4m ($16.2m), led by E.J. Hughes's seascape *Coastal Boats Near Sidney, BC (1948)*, which sold for C$5.7m ($4.1m)—more than tripling its high estimate and setting a new auction record for the artist. The painting was consigned by Emily Carr University of Art and Design, with proceeds benefiting student awards. Other highlights included works by Mary Pratt, Jean Paul Riopelle, Alex Colville, Takao Tanabe, Tom Thomson, Arthur Lismer, and A.J. Casson, with four lots crossing the million-dollar mark and a 93.75% sell-through rate.

Sotheby’s $304M Modern Evening Auction Confirms the Market Has Found Its Footing

Sotheby's Modern Evening Auction on May 19 achieved $304 million with a 98% sell-through rate across 45 lots, more than doubling the total from the equivalent sale in November. The auction was anchored by fresh-to-market masterpieces, including Henri Matisse's "La Chaise Lorraine" from the Barbier-Müller collection, which sold for $48.4 million—the second-highest price for a Matisse painting at auction. Other highlights included works from the Enrico Donati collection, which generated a combined $58.9 million, and Pablo Picasso's "Arlequin (Buste)" (1909) selling for $42.6 million. The sale contributed to a running combined total of $839.6 million for Sotheby's marquee sales, following strong results from the Mnuchin collection and Contemporary Day Auction.

Christie’s Kiran Nadar Exhibition Is the Latest Indicator of the South Asian Art Market’s Growing Importance

Christie’s London will host “The Meeting Ground,” a non-selling exhibition of works from the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) in New Delhi, from July 16 to August 21, 2025. The show features Indian modernists such as M.F. Husain, S.H. Raza, K.G. Subramanyan, and F.N. Souza, alongside contemporary South Asian artists, Indigenous art practitioners, and diaspora artists. Admission is free. The exhibition follows a series of record-breaking auction sales for South Asian art, including Husain’s *Untitled (Gram Yatra)* (1954) sold at Christie’s New York for $13.8 million in March 2025 and Raja Ravi Varma’s *Yashoda and Krishna* (ca. 1890s) sold at Saffronart for $17.9 million.

Richter works from gallerist Marian Goodman and Donald Judd pieces lead Christie's New York auctions

I lavori di Richter della gallerista Marian Goodman e le opere Donald Judd guidano le aste di Christie’s a New York

Christie's New York spring sales opened on May 20, 2026, with two major collections: the minimalist art collection of Henry S. McNeil Jr. and works by Gerhard Richter from the collection of legendary gallerist Marian Goodman. The 42-lot session achieved $162.7 million, with 98% sold by lot. The 21st Century Evening Sale alone reached $136.8 million, a 42% increase over May 2025 and Christie's highest result for the category in five years. Top lots included Donald Judd's "Untitled" (1969) at $12.8 million—a new auction record for a Judd stack—and Richard Artschwager's "Two-Part Invention" (1967) which soared to $635,000 from an estimate of $60,000–80,000. The Goodman collection of eight Richter works, all guaranteed, generated $78.8 million, exceeding expectations.

L’actualité des maisons de ventes - juin 2026

The June 2026 auction news roundup reports a sharp slowdown in the ultra-contemporary art market, with sales of artists under 40 dropping from $306 million in 2022 to just $48 million in 2025—a 47% decline from 2024. Painting dominates 80% of this segment, but top prices remain far below pre-pandemic peaks, with Flora Yukhnovich's $1.73 million work leading. London now holds 26% of the market, ahead of New York's 24%, while Paris lags at 0.9%. Other highlights include a sale of over 150 unseen concert photographs by Patrick Ullman at Quai des Enchères, a record €10.2 million for Henry Taylor, and a €10.2 million Monet record in France at Sotheby's Paris. Ader also offers rediscovered Renaissance and Baroque works by Antonello da Messina and Rubens at Drouot.

U.K. Museum Races to Acquire 18th-Century Portrait of Black Gardener

The Garden Museum in London has launched a campaign to raise £420,000 ($560,000) to acquire the earliest known portrait of a Black British gardener, John Ystumllyn. Painted by an unknown artist in 1754, the work depicts Ystumllyn as a young man in a blue suit and waistcoat. He was abducted from West Africa as a child, trained as a gardener on the Ystumllyn estate in Wales, and later became a renowned horticulturist. The painting has been on loan to the museum since 2023, and the institution aims to permanently display it alongside another portrait of a Black gardener from 1905.

Rediscovered Old Master Painting Eclipses Estimate at Auction

A rediscovered portrait of Prince Rupert, long attributed to the studio of Anthony van Dyck and later to Jacob Huysmans, sold for CA$217,250 ($153,000) at Heffel Fine Art Auction House’s Spring Sale on May 21, more than double its low estimate. New research identified the work as by Peter Lely, court painter to King Charles II. The painting had belonged to the Hudson Bay Company for centuries and was part of a court-approved sale of the company’s collection following its 2024 bankruptcy. The 80-lot sale also saw a record for E.J. Hughes’s "Coastal Boats Near Sidney, BC" (1948), which sold for CA$5.7 million ($4.1 million), and strong results for Group of Seven artists Arthur Lismer, A.J. Casson, and Lawren Harris.

Kalshi Rolls Out Prediction Markets Tied to Art Auctions

Kalshi, an online prediction market platform based in New York, launched a new category of prediction markets tied to art auction prices on May 26. The platform offers 16 contracts, including bets on whether artists like Andy Warhol and Vincent van Gogh will break their auction records, and speculation on specific lots such as Gustav Klimt's *Portrait of Gertrud Loew* (1902) at Sotheby's London. The move follows Kalshi's earlier forays into luxury watches and Pokémon cards, and comes after New York's spring auction week generated $2.1 billion in sales at Christie's, Sotheby's, and Phillips.

An $18 million Banksy sold in an exclusive auction at Tiffany & Co. in New York

Un Banksy da 18 milioni di dollari venduto in un’asta esclusiva da Tiffany & Co. a New York

Fair Warning, an invitation-only online auction platform founded by former Christie's rainmaker Loïc Gouzer, sold Banksy's 2012 painting *Girl and Balloon on Found Landscape* for nearly $18 million at a live auction held in Tiffany & Co.'s Manhattan flagship store on May 20, 2026. The sale was conducted by Jussi Pylkkänen, another former Christie's star auctioneer, and the work—never before publicly shown—had a pre-sale estimate of $13–18 million, making it the third most expensive Banksy ever sold at auction.

Institutional exhibitions, new records and large collections at auction. It's a boom for Indian and South Asian art

Mostre istituzionali, nuovi record e grandi collezioni in asta. È boom dell’arte indiana e dell’Asia meridionale

Christie's London will host "The Meeting Ground: Scenes from the KNMA Collection" from July 16 to August 21, 2026, featuring over 60 artists from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, with works dating from the 1950s to today. The exhibition is organized in collaboration with the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art in New Delhi and draws from the collection of Kiran Nadar, a prominent South Asian art collector. This follows a landmark auction at Sotheby's New York on March 26, 2026, where the Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art sale achieved $22.1 million, setting records for 12 artists including K.C.S. Paniker, Vivan Sundaram, and K.K. Hebbar. The sale was led by Maqbool Fida Husain's "Second Act" (1958) at $5.1 million, while his earlier record of $13.8 million for "Untitled (Gram Yatra)" was set at Christie's New York in March 2025, purchased by Nadar.

One of the Rarest King Arthur Manuscripts Could Fetch Millions at Auction

Christie’s will auction the Clermont-Tonnerre Grail, a rare illuminated manuscript from the Lancelot-Grail Cycle (circa 1300), on July 8 at its Valuable Books and Manuscripts sale in London. Expected to fetch £1.5 million–£2 million ($2 million–$2.6 million), the artifact has remained in private hands for 700 years and is one of only three complete Vulgate Cycle manuscripts in private ownership. The 126 illustrations are attributed to the Master of the Liége Apocalypse, and the manuscript boasts a distinguished provenance including French nobility and British baron Thomas Phillipps.

Banksy’s Girl and Balloon on Found Landscape Sells for $18 Million

Banksy's painting *Girl and Balloon on Found Landscape* sold for $18 million (£13.3 million) at a Fair Warning auction held at Tiffany & Co.'s Landmark store in New York. The 2012 work, which reimagines a traditional pastoral landscape with the artist's iconic balloon motif, was purchased by an anonymous US bidder after a phone battle. The result places it among the three highest auction prices ever achieved for a Banksy artwork, surpassing *Sunflowers From Petrol Station* and trailing only *Game Changer* and *Love Is in the Bin*.

Seoul Auction vs. K Auction: May Major Auctions Through Modern Masters, Contemporary Installation, and Antique Art

In the final week of May 2026, South Korea's two leading auction houses, K Auction and Seoul Auction, will hold major sales one day apart. K Auction's May sale on May 27 features 83 works with an estimated value of KRW 10.4 billion, including Park Soo-keun's 'On the Way Home' (1964) and Do Ho Suh's large-scale installation 'Cause & Effect'. Seoul Auction's 192nd Art Auction on May 28 offers 145 works with a combined low estimate of KRW 10.3 billion. Both sales focus on proven artists and rare works rather than large-scale expansion, highlighting Korean modern masters like Kim Whanki and Yoo Youngkuk alongside contemporary international names.

Arthurian manuscript could make magic at Christie's London

A rare medieval manuscript containing early versions of the King Arthur, Merlin, and Holy Grail myths will be auctioned at Christie’s London on 8 July with an estimate of £1.5m–£2m. Known as the Clermont-Tonnerre Grail, the vellum manuscript (circa 1290–1310) features gold leaf illumination and 126 miniature illustrations by the Master of the Liège Apocalypse. It includes texts from the Old French Lancelot-Grail cycle and has a distinguished provenance, having belonged to figures such as Sir Thomas Phillipps and the comte de Clermont-Tonnerre.

Why Anita Zabludowicz is putting £20mn of art up for auction

Anita Zabludowicz is selling £20 million worth of art at Christie’s London summer auction. The collection includes works by prominent contemporary artists, and the sale is expected to be a major event in the art market calendar.