Top auction houses draw Southeast Asia’s elite art buyers

Auction houses Sotheby's, Christie's, and Bonhams are seeing a surge in participation from wealthy Southeast Asian collectors, particularly Millennials and Gen Z. Elaine Holt of Sotheby's Asia reports significant growth in collector activity from the region, with strong bidding at recent Hong Kong sales. Christie's Asia-Pacific president Francis Belin notes Southeast Asia is now the firm's third-largest buying market in Asia-Pacific, led by Singapore and Indonesia, with notable increases from Vietnam. Bonhams' managing director for Asia, Julia Hu, reports a 67% year-on-year rise in Southeast Asian auction spending. Younger buyers are driving demand, with Millennials and Gen Z accounting for 37% of Bonhams' Hong Kong buyers and 40% of Sotheby's Hong Kong marquee sales. A Renoir painting sold for $23.56 million to a collector in their 30s, highlighting youthful buying power.

Post-War to Present

On 26 June, a live auction at a London saleroom achieved £9,284,310, led by Victor Man's 'The Chandler' at £705,600 and David Hockney's iPad painting at £504,000. Other top lots included works by KAWS, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Tracey Emin, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Raymond Pettibon. An online auction closed on 3 July with a total of £1,247,904, featuring Manolo Valdés's 'Amélie II' as the top lot at £56,700, along with works by George Condo, Sylvie Fleury, and Gilbert & George.

L’arte italiana del Dopoguerra va in asta da Sotheby’s a Milano: tutti i nomi più attesi

Sotheby's will hold a live auction of Modern and Contemporary Art at Palazzo Serbelloni in Milan on May 27, 2026, featuring major Italian post-war artists. Highlights include works by Lucio Fontana, Giorgio Morandi, Carla Accardi, Alighiero Boetti, Emilio Vedova, Salvo, Piero Dorazio, and Tancredi, many appearing at auction for the first time. Key lots include Fontana's "Concetto Spaziale, Attese" (1965-66, estimate €700,000-1,000,000) and a Yves Klein monochrome from 1959.

Art Leven First Nations And Australian Fine Art Auction Opens This Week - Scoop

Art Leven, a Sydney-based gallery focused on First Nations art, is opening its First Nations and Australian Fine Art Auction and Exhibition, headlined by the private collection of the late Dame Marie Bashir AD CVO and Sir Nicholas Shehadie AC OBE. The exhibition runs from 15–19 May 2026 at Art Leven's new Woolloomooloo gallery, with the live auction on 19 May at Artspace. The sale includes approximately 115 artworks, with 79 from the Bashir-Shehadie collection, featuring works by Balang John Mawurndjul AM, Arthur Boyd, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Albert Namatjira, and others. The collection reflects decades of travel to remote art centres and close relationships with artists, supported by archival material like handwritten notes and early catalogues.

phillips auction house new priority bidding structure 1234747999

Phillips auction house will launch a new "priority bidding" fee structure this September, offering a lower buyer's premium rate to bidders who place a binding written bid at least 48 hours before a live auction, provided the bid meets or exceeds the lot's low estimate. The standard buyer's premium will remain at 29/22/15 percent for New York sales, while priority bidding rates drop to 25/20/14 percent. The policy applies to live auctions across New York, London, Hong Kong, Geneva, and Paris, but excludes watch auctions and timed online-only sales.

mars meteorite sothebys auction 1234747203

A 54-pound chunk of Mars, believed to be the largest Martian meteorite ever discovered on Earth, will be auctioned at Sotheby’s New York on July 16 with an estimate of $2 million to $4 million. Named NWA 16788, the meteorite was found in November 2023 in Niger’s Agadez region and accounts for 6.5 percent of all known Martian material on Earth, making it 70 percent larger than the next largest piece. Sotheby’s is billing it as the most valuable meteorite ever offered at auction, and it will be on public view from July 8–15 before the live sale.

parties art artwalk sheree hovsepian auction gala

The Artwalk NY gala and auction raised over $8 million on Tuesday, November 19, 2025, to support the Coalition for the Homeless. Presented by Max Mara, the event at the Grill and the Pool in the Seagram Building featured a live auction of artist-designed plates from the Artist Plate Project, along with works by Sheree Hovsepian and Ed Ruscha. Honorees included artist Sheree Hovsepian and Artist Plate Project Founder Michelle Hellman, with remarks from Coalition Executive Director Dave Giffen and a DJ set by AKU. The evening drew a crowd of artists, collectors, and philanthropists, including Rashid Johnson, Joel Mesler, Thelma Golden, and Don Lemon.

Raja Ravi Varma Becomes The Highest Value Modern Indian Artwork At Auction

Raja Ravi Varma’s 1890s masterpiece "Yashoda and Krishna" has set a new record for the most expensive Indian artwork ever sold at auction. During Saffronart’s Spring Live Auction, the painting fetched Rs 167.2 crore (approximately $18 million), far exceeding its pre-sale estimate of Rs 80–120 crore. The work was acquired by billionaire Dr. Cyrus S. Poonawalla, chairman of the Serum Institute of India, who has pledged to make the national treasure available for periodic public viewing.

LAMA: PRESENT TENSE: Ultra-Contemporary & Street Art

Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA) is hosting a specialized sale titled "PRESENT TENSE: Ultra-Contemporary & Street Art" via the Artsy platform. The auction features a curated selection of works from high-profile contemporary and street artists, including Barry McGee, Shag, and RETNA. Bidders are invited to participate through pre-registered max bids or real-time live bidding as the sale concludes on March 17, 2026.

Rago and Wright: Post War & Contemporary Art

Artsy is hosting a live auction titled 'Rago and Wright: Post War & Contemporary Art,' which closed on January 28, 2026. The sale features 78 lots of works by artists including Donald Judd, Tom Wesselmann, Niki de Saint Phalle, Sol LeWitt, Louise Nevelson, Anna Weyant, and Willem de Kooning, among others. Bidders could place max bids in advance or participate live through the Artsy platform, with all lots shipping from Rago/Wright/LAMA facilities.

Sotheby’s Origins II Returns to Riyadh

Sotheby’s is returning to Riyadh for the second edition of its Origins sale, titled Origins II, with a live auction scheduled for 31 January. The sale will feature over 70 lots spanning Modern and Contemporary Art, Ancient Sculpture, and 20th-Century Design, including works by Saudi pioneer Safeya Binzagr, Iraqi artist Mahmoud Sabri, and Pablo Picasso. The auction coincides with the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale and the debut of Art Basel Doha, and will be preceded by a public exhibition at Diriyah’s Bujairi Terrace from 24 to 31 January.

christies website down microsoft outage 1234759356

Christie's website experienced a temporary outage on Wednesday, October 29, due to a global Microsoft 365 and Azure cloud platform disruption. Visitors saw an error message apologizing for the inconvenience and providing contact numbers for Christie's branches in London, New York, Paris, and Hong Kong. A Christie's spokesperson confirmed the outage was caused by the Microsoft issue, and the site was restored after Microsoft pushed a recovery configuration. No live auctions were scheduled that day.

IMA Gala and Benefit Auction 2025 at The Calile Hotel

The Institute of Modern Art (IMA) in Brisbane is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a gala and benefit auction on October 15, 2025, at The Calile Hotel. The black-tie event with a surrealist twist will feature a seated banquet, avant-garde performances, and a live auction of contemporary works by leading Australian artists, including newly crowned Archibald Prize winner Julie Fragar, Sam Cranstoun, Richard Bell, and Craig & Karl. Online bidding opens on October 15, and a raffle for luxury prizes from Brisbane brands is also available.

Gallery: Young Estonian artists' art auction exhibition opens

An exhibition of young Estonian artists has opened at the Art & Tonic gallery in Tallinn, showcasing 92 works selected from 269 submissions for the "Osta noort kunsti" ("Buy Young Art") spring auction. The auction, organized by gallery owner Reigo Kuivjõgi, features starting prices set by the artists themselves, ranging from €1 to €2,000, with past final prices reaching over €20,000. The exhibition runs free of charge from May 1 to May 14, with the live auction on May 15.

From Auction Spotlight to International Stages: Catching Up with Natalia Lashkhi, BI Auction Winner and Rising Art Voice

Georgia Today interviews Natalia Lashkhi, winner of the 2020–2021 BI Auction Competition for Young Artists, organized by the BI Auction House in Georgia. Lashkhi discusses how the award provided early exposure, sales to collectors, and a career springboard, leading to international exhibitions, residencies in Germany, Malta, and Lithuania, and her works entering private collections across multiple countries. Since 2024, she has also become a lecturer at the Apollon Kutateladze Tbilisi State Academy of Art.

Contemporary Art & Design 670 - Day 1

Bukowskis Stockholm

Bukowskis in Stockholm has announced its upcoming live auction, 'Contemporary Art & Design 670 - day 1,' scheduled for April 21, 2026. The sale features a curated selection of works ranging from the mid-20th century to the present, showcasing both Swedish and international artists and designers across a diverse array of media and styles.