Auction Results: New Records for Noah Davis and Antonio Obá at Sotheby's, Major Paintings by Barkley L. Hendricks and Kerry James Marshall Went Unsold

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.

Watch the Record-Breaking Auction of This Gustav Klimt Portrait, Which Just Became the Second Most Expensive Painting Ever Sold

Gustav Klimt's "Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer" sold at Sotheby's for $236.4 million on November 20, 2025, becoming the most expensive modern artwork ever auctioned and the second most expensive painting overall. The life-size oil painting, created between 1914 and 1916, depicts the 20-year-old daughter of prominent Jewish art collectors. After a 20-minute bidding war starting at $130 million, an anonymous telephone bidder won the work, which had been owned by cosmetics heir Leonard Lauder until his death in June 2025.

Art market bounce back continues in New York with Christie's $123.5m 21st-century sale

Christie’s 21st-century evening sale at Rockefeller Centre in New York on 19 November achieved $99.5 million before fees ($123.5 million with fees), surpassing last November’s equivalent sale of $106.5 million with fees. The sale featured 45 lots, with only one unsold (a Cecily Brown abstract), resulting in a 2% buy-in rate. Three artist records were set for Firelei Báez, Joan Brown, and Olga de Amaral. A major highlight was the collection of Chicago collectors Gale Neeson and the late Stefan Edlis, comprising 19 lots that realized $40.3 million ($49.2 million with fees), including works by Andy Warhol, Richard Prince, and Diego Giacometti. Other notable sales included Cindy Sherman’s *Untitled Film Still #13* (1978) at $2.2 million with fees, Ed Ruscha’s *How Do You Do?* at $6.7 million with fees, and a Warhol *The Last Supper* (1986) sold to Paris dealer Frederic Larroque for $8.1 million with fees.

A gold toilet and the most expensive modern artwork ever sold at auction boost the New York market

Sotheby's New York held a landmark auction evening on November 18, 2025, featuring two headline-grabbing lots: Gustav Klimt's 'Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer' (1914-16), which sold for $236.4 million, becoming the most expensive modern artwork ever sold at auction, and Maurizio Cattelan's solid-gold toilet 'America', which sold for a disappointing $12.1 million after a single bid. The Klimt came from the collection of the late cosmetics heir Leonard Lauder, whose two-night auction total reached $527.5 million. The toilet, previously owned by investor Steve Cohen, had been commissioned when gold prices were far lower, ensuring the seller a profit regardless of the modest bidding.

Gustav Klimt portrait sale breaks modern art record

Gustav Klimt's portrait of Elisabeth Lederer sold for $236 million (£180 million) at Sotheby's in New York, setting a new record for the most expensive work of modern art ever sold at auction. The painting, completed between 1914 and 1916, depicts the daughter of Klimt's most important patrons and was part of the collection of the late cosmetics billionaire Leonard Lauder, who had purchased it in 1985. The sale took place during Sotheby's first evening sale at its new Manhattan headquarters, with bidding starting at $130 million and narrowing to two contenders before the hammer fell at $236 million.

Gustav Klimt's rare 'Elisabeth Lederer' painting fetches record $236.4 million - Most expensive work of mo

Gustav Klimt's rare portrait 'Elisabeth Lederer' sold for $236.4 million at Sotheby's, setting a new record as the most expensive work of modern art ever sold at auction. The painting, created in the final years of Klimt's life, narrowly survived World War II after being separated from other works destroyed in a fire at Immendorf Castle. It came from the collection of Estée Lauder heir Leonard A. Lauder, who died earlier this year. The sale also featured Maurizio Cattelan's 18-karat gold toilet 'America', which drew only a single bid and sold for $12.1 million.

Record $236.3m Klimt leads Sotheby’s first night of auctions in Breuer Building

Sotheby's first evening auctions in its new Manhattan headquarters, the former Whitney Museum building designed by Marcel Breuer, achieved a record total of $605.1 million ($706 million with fees) on November 18. The night was headlined by the sale of 24 works from the collection of the late billionaire Leonard Lauder, which alone brought in $456.2 million. The standout lot was Gustav Klimt's 'Bildnis Elisabeth Lederer (Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer, 1914-16)', which sold for $205 million ($236.3 million with fees) after a nearly 20-minute bidding war, becoming the second-most-expensive painting ever sold at auction. A subsequent contemporary art auction added $148.8 million ($178.5 million with fees) across 44 lots.

Gustav Klimt portrait sells for $236.4m, making it the second most expensive artwork ever sold at auction

Gustav Klimt's "Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer" sold for $236.4 million at Sotheby's New York on Tuesday night, becoming the second most expensive artwork ever sold at auction and the most expensive modern artwork ever auctioned. The six-foot-tall painting, created between 1914 and 1916, depicts the young heiress and daughter of Klimt's patrons. Six bidders competed for 20 minutes before the work was sold, though Sotheby's declined to name the buyer. The painting had been looted by the Nazis during World War II, returned to the Lederer family in 1948, and later acquired by Estée Lauder heir Leonard A. Lauder in 1985. Lauder died in June at age 92, and the sale was part of his collection auction that fetched $575.5 million total.

Kicking off New York November sales, Christie's nets healthy $690m from double-header 20th-century auction

Christie's kicked off New York's November auction season with a double-header 20th-century evening sale on November 17, generating $574.7 million before fees and $690 million with fees. The sale featured 80 lots, including 18 from the collection of supermarket magnate Robert Weis and his wife Patricia Ross Weis, with highlights such as Pablo Picasso's *La Lecture (Marie-Thérèse)* selling for $45.4 million and Mark Rothko's *No. 31 (Yellow Stripe)* achieving $62.1 million. Two artist records were set, including for Leonor Fini, and the sale achieved a 94% sell-through rate, with 59 lots backed by third-party or house guarantees.

Christie’s $700M Night, Trump’s $7.25M Rockwell & Bonhams’ Big Names

The article reports on major auction results from Christie's, Bonhams, and other houses, including a $700 million evening sale at Christie's and a Norman Rockwell painting sold for $7.25 million linked to former President Donald Trump. It also highlights notable consignments and bidding activity from high-profile collectors and estates.

Gold toilet, Klimt portrait sell for millions at Sotheby’s

A portrait by Gustav Klimt, *Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer* (1914–1916), sold for $236 million at Sotheby's in New York, setting a record for the auction house. The painting, depicting the daughter of Klimt's patron, was part of the collection of late billionaire Leonard A. Lauder. In the same sale, Maurizio Cattelan's solid gold toilet *America* (2016) fetched $12.1 million, with the piece satirizing superwealth. The toilet had previously been exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum and was stolen from Blenheim Palace in 2019; its current whereabouts remain unknown.

Kim Whan-Ki's 19-VI-71 #206 to be Auctioned at Christie's New York 20th Century Evening Sale - Christie's

Christie's New York will auction Kim Whan-Ki's 1971 painting *19-VI-71 #206* (estimate $7.5–10 million) on 17 November 2025 as part of its prestigious 20th Century Evening Sale. This marks the first time a Korean artwork has been included in this marquee sale, placing the piece alongside works by Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Joan Mitchell, and David Hockney. The painting, from the artist's New York period, is one of only 30 large-scale 'dot paintings' exceeding 200 cm and was created in the same year as his record-setting *05-IV-71 #200 (Universe)*, which sold at Christie's Hong Kong in 2019 for over HK$100 million.

New Year, New View: Eight Places to See Art This Winter (and Beyond)

The article highlights eight must-see art exhibitions for the winter season. Key shows include "Dreamworld: Surrealism at 100" at the Philadelphia Art Museum, a Gerhard Richter retrospective at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, a survey of avant-garde artist Bettina Grossman at Ruth Arts in Milwaukee, a Jacqueline Humphries exhibition at the Aspen Art Museum, and "Ideas of Africa: Portraiture and Political Imagination" at New York's Museum of Modern Art. Other notable exhibitions are also mentioned, covering a range of historical and contemporary artists.

This month’s New York auctions could bring up to $2.3bn

New York's leading auction houses, including Sotheby's and Christie's, expect to generate between $1.7bn and $2.3bn during their November sales, driven by major consignments such as 55 works from the estate of Leonard Lauder and 37 works from the collection of Jay and Cindy Pritzker. Sotheby's, which has moved its headquarters into the former Whitney Museum's Breuer Building, leads the season with estimated sales of $863m to $1.175bn, featuring Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (estimated at $150m) and Frida Kahlo's El Sueño (La Cama) (estimated at $40m-$60m).

New York Galleries: Openings and Closings of the Week (11/11—11/16)

The Best Art Exhibits to See in New York City Right Now

New York City's autumn art scene features a diverse array of exhibitions across major museums. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "Man Ray: When Objects Dream" showcases 60 rayographs alongside 100 paintings and prints, exploring the artist's camera-less photography technique. The Brooklyn Museum presents "Monet and Venice," placing 19 of Monet's Venetian paintings in dialogue with works by John Singer Sargent and others, while also hosting "Breaking the Mold: Brooklyn Museum at 200," a retrospective on the institution's two-century history. The New York Historical Society offers "The Gay Harlem Renaissance," highlighting queer Black artists and writers of the Harlem Renaissance, and "The New York Sari," examining South Asian women's fashion influence since the Gilded Age.

Greenville County Museum of Art showcases ‘At This Moment’ exhibition

The Greenville County Museum of Art (GCMA) will open “At This Moment: Portraits of South Carolina Artists” on November 12, featuring 78 photographs taken over ten months by photographer Jerry Seigel. Seigel was commissioned by GCMA’s Mark Sloan and Tom Styron to travel across the state and capture portraits of notable artists including Sigmund Abeles, Shepard Fairey, Pearl Fryar, Jonathan Green, Mary Jackson, Jasper Johns, Grainger McKoy, George Read, Brian Rutenberg, Leo Twiggs, and Mary Whyte. The exhibition runs through January 11, 2026, and will be accompanied by a book of the same title containing Seigel’s photos and biographical information on each artist.

Maurizio Cattelan's solid gold toilet going to auction at Sotheby's

Sotheby's will auction Maurizio Cattelan's solid gold toilet sculpture, *America* (2016), during its evening sale of contemporary art in New York on 18 November. Bidding starts at approximately $10 million, based on the current market value of the 18-karat gold used in the work. The piece, a fully functioning toilet modeled after a standard Kohler design, will be on view at Sotheby's Breuer Building from 8 to 17 November, though visitors will not be allowed to use it. This is the only surviving edition; another was famously stolen from Blenheim Palace in 2019 and believed melted down.

Maurizio Cattelan’s Gold Toilet Returns to Market at Sotheby’s This November

Sotheby's has announced that an edition of Maurizio Cattelan's gold toilet sculpture "America" (2016) will be auctioned in its The Now & Contemporary Evening Auction on November 18, 2025, with a starting bid of approximately $10 million based on its 101.2-kilogram weight in gold. The work first gained fame at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2009, where over 100,000 visitors used it, and later made headlines when it was stolen from Blenheim Palace in a raid that caused structural damage and flooding. The stolen piece was never recovered and is presumed melted down, making this edition the only one in existence.

Cattelan's famous gold toilet goes up for auction: America for sale at Sotheby's

Maurizio Cattelan's iconic 2016 gold toilet sculpture, 'America,' will be auctioned at Sotheby's on November 18, 2025, during The Now and Contemporary evening auction. The starting bid will be tied to the fluctuating gold market price, currently around $10 million based on its 101.2 kg weight, and Sotheby's will accept cryptocurrency as payment. The work, a fully functional toilet made of 18-karat gold, was famously installed at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2016, where over 100,000 visitors used it, and was later stolen from Blenheim Palace in 2019. This is the only surviving version of the two originally made.

Comment | What the art market doesn’t allow, branded content does for Tom Sachs

Tom Sachs has signed with The Lede Company, a US public relations firm, for agency representation, while Thaddaeus Ropac continues to represent him for gallery and fine art inquiries. This arrangement highlights Sachs's expanding activities beyond the traditional art market, including collaborations with Nike and Levi's, such as a Nike app promoting the Mars Yard 3.0 trainers. The announcement came in August, amidst other art-world movements like Jeff Koons's return to Gagosian from Pace Gallery.

9 artists having major museum moments this year and next

Nine artists are featured in major museum exhibitions this year and next, including John Singer Sargent at the Musée d'Orsay, Alexander Calder at Calder Gardens and the Whitney Museum, Beauford Delaney at the Studio Museum in Harlem, Man Ray at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Cecily Brown at the Barnes Foundation. The article highlights key shows such as Sargent: Dazzling Paris, High Wire: Calder's Circus at 100, and When Objects Dream, each presenting significant works and historical context.

Princeton University Art Museum graduates to expansive new home

The Princeton University Art Museum (PUAM) is opening a new 146,000-square-foot facility on October 31, doubling its previous exhibition and education spaces. The original 1880s building, which underwent multiple additions before being demolished in 2021, could only display about 2% of Princeton's 117,000-object collection. Designed by Adjaye Associates with executive architect Cooper Robertson, the new three-story museum features nine interlocking pavilions, 80,000 square feet of exhibition space, classrooms, and a grand hall. Curators have rethought the installation to move away from rigid geographic and chronological categories, instead emphasizing cross-cultural and cross-media pairings, such as placing Andy Warhol's Blue Marilyn (1962) alongside a 14th-century Italian Virgin and Child.

Ten essential works of art to see in Dresden

The article presents a curated guide to ten essential artworks in Dresden, Germany, highlighting the city's recovery from World War II devastation to reclaim its status as a Kunststadt (city of art). It focuses on masterpieces housed in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD), including Raphael's *Sistine Madonna* (1512/13) at the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Caspar David Friedrich's *The Great Enclosure* (1832) at the Albertinum, and a tiny cherry pit with 185 carved heads from the Grünes Gewölbe. The piece traces Dresden's golden age under rulers Augustus the Strong and Frederick Augustus II, whose acquisitions built one of Europe's most celebrated art collections.

Stefan Edlis and Gael Neeson built an unforgettable collection defined by humanity and humour

Christie's will auction over 40 works from the collection of the late Stefan Edlis and his wife Gael Neeson, beginning with the 21st Century Evening Sale on 19 November and the Post-War & Contemporary Art Day Sale on 20 November in New York, with additional offerings continuing through 2026. The collection, housed in the couple's Chicago residence, includes iconic pieces by artists such as Ed Ruscha, Urs Fischer, Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman, and Diego Giacometti, reflecting a blend of avant-garde, Pop, and Art Deco design.

Modern & Contemporary African and Middle Eastern Art at Olympia Auctions

Olympia Auctions will hold a sale of Modern & Contemporary African and Middle Eastern Art on 29 October 2025, featuring 66 lots curated by specialists Janet Rady and Elikem Logan. Highlights include works by Ben Enwonwu, Oluwole Omofemi, Johnson Ocheja, Jacob Hendrik Pierneef, and South African women weavers from the Rorke’s Drift Art and Craft Centre, with estimates ranging from £1,000 to £25,000.

‘Everyone benefits’: Art Basel’s chief on the new Paris VVIP slot and the viability of its Qatar fair

Art Basel Paris held its fourth edition with a new VIP preview slot called Avant Première, where galleries nominated six key collectors to enter the fair on Tuesday afternoon before the main opening. Major sales were reported, including a $23 million Gerhard Richter painting at Hauser & Wirth, a Modigliani for nearly $10 million at Pace, and a $7.5 million Ruth Asawa sculpture at David Zwirner. CEO Noah Horowitz discussed the rationale for the exclusive preview, the renaming of the VIP relations team to 'collector and institutional relations,' and the viability of the upcoming Art Basel Qatar fair amid growing competition in the Gulf region.

A brush with… Peter Doig—podcast

The article is a podcast interview with renowned painter Peter Doig, who discusses his upcoming exhibition "House of Music" at Serpentine South in London, running from October 10, 2025, to February 8, 2026. Doig reflects on his career, his evolving body of work informed by memory, personal photographs, art history, and music, as well as his time living in Trinidad and Canada. He delves into specific paintings in the show, his influences including Edward Burra, Henri Matisse, and Caravaggio, his collaboration with poet Derek Walcott, and the repertory cinema he founded in Port of Spain.

When is art sacred? A Jesuit artist on what makes the absurd, the abstract and the ordinary holy

The article is a first-person reflection by Jesuit artist Nick Leeper on the 2024 Biennale d'Art Contemporain Sacré in Menton, France. Leeper describes entering the Grand Hôtel des Ambassadeurs expecting a traditional sacred art show but finding instead a mix of abstract sculptures, Venetian glassworks, and works by Man Ray, alongside more conventional religious pieces. The biennale, founded in 2019 by Liana Marabini, features 180 artists from 29 countries exploring the theme of "forgiveness," including major names like Damien Hirst, Yayoi Kusama, and Gerhard Richter, as well as artists from religious orders. Leeper recounts how visitors at the opening asked what makes such diverse works sacred.

A Bike Path Now Runs Through the Portland Art Museum

The Portland Art Museum (PAM) is opening a new 24,000-square-foot glass structure called the Mark Rothko Pavilion on November 20, 2025. The $111 million expansion, funded almost entirely by private donations, connects the museum's two existing buildings—the original travertine building designed by Pietro Belluschi and a former Masonic temple—above ground for the first time. The pavilion is named after the artist Mark Rothko, who had his first museum exhibition at PAM in 1932 under his birth name Marcus Rothkowitz. The project was designed by Chicago firm Vinci Hamp Architects and Portland's Hennebery Eddy.