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frank lloyd wright lamp sothebys auction 2634454

A rare Frank Lloyd Wright lamp, the Double-Pedestal lamp, sold at Sotheby’s Modern Evening Auction on May 13 for $7.5 million, far exceeding its $3–5 million estimate after an 11-minute bidding war. Designed in 1902 for the Susan Lawrence Dana House in Springfield, Illinois, the lamp is one of only two surviving examples; the other remains in the house’s collection. The sale set a new auction record for a Wright work, surpassing the previous high of $2.9 million for a 1902 ceiling light sold in 2023.

trending_up market schedule May 17, 2025 visibility 17 link 21 artists, 4 galleries

11 New Artist Auction Records Set in May 2025

During New York's spring auction week starting May 12, 2025, major houses Sotheby's, Christie's, Phillips, and Bonhams collectively brought in $1.27 billion, slightly above the estimated $1.25 billion but down 17% from the previous year. The top lot was Piet Mondrian's *Composition with Large Red Plane, Bluish Gray, Yellow, Black and Blue* (1922) at $47.56 million, but the mood was tense as trophy works like Andy Warhol's *Big Electric Chair* (1967–68) were withdrawn and several top lots, including Alberto Giacometti's *Grande tête mince* (1955), failed to sell. Amid this volatility, 11 new artist auction records were set, five of which were for women artists, notably Marlene Dumas's *Miss January* (1999) selling for $13.65 million—the most expensive work by a living woman artist at auction.

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