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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

'I want to show the real deal': property developer Rajan Bijlani on his Modernist design collection

Property developer Rajan Bijlani, based in north London, has turned his home Fonthill Pottery—formerly the residence and studio of ceramicist Emmanuel Cooper—into a showcase for his collection of 20th-century design, sculpture, and paintings. His focus is Modernist furniture, particularly works by Pierre Jeanneret, one of the architects of Chandigarh, India. Bijlani owns over 500 pieces, including Jeanneret's 1960 Dining Table and Easy Chairs (1956), as well as works by Le Corbusier and George Nakashima. He staged his first home exhibition last year featuring South Asian diaspora artists, and this year presents 'Electric Kiln,' pairing Jeanneret and Le Corbusier pieces with works by Cooper, Lucie Rie, and Frank Auerbach. Some works are for sale to fund future shows, including a Japan-themed exhibition and one timed to London Gallery Weekend.

Artists Zadie Xa and Dominic Chambers contribute works to Art of Wishes auction raising funds for critically ill children

The Art of Wishes charity auction, founded in 2017 by Batia Ofer, is holding its fifth gala in October 2025 at the Chancery Rosewood in London. Artists Zadie Xa and Dominic Chambers have contributed works: Xa's 'Worlding (2025)' (estimate £30,000-£50,000) and Chambers' 'In Safe Keeping (2025)' (estimate £50,000-£70,000). Other consignments include pieces by Ron Arad and Deborah Azzopardi. The 22 works will be viewable at Phillips auction house in London from 9-12 October and online. The auction has raised over £13 million for Make-A-Wish UK since 2017, granting over 5,000 wishes to critically ill children.

An expert’s guide to Robert Rauschenberg: five must-read books on the US artist

To mark the 100th anniversary of Robert Rauschenberg's birth, over half a dozen exhibitions have been organized worldwide, led by the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. Shows include "Five Friends" at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne and "Robert Rauschenberg: Fabric Works of the 1970s" at the Menil Collection in Houston. Michelle White, senior curator at the Menil, has selected five key books that illuminate different facets of the artist's life and career, from Calvin Tomkins's biography to a catalogue on Rauschenberg's early 1950s work.

Who made ancient Egyptian art? Plus, Michaelina Wautier, Robert Rauschenberg’s ‘Bed’—podcast

This episode of The Art Newspaper's podcast 'The Week in Art' covers three major art stories. Alexander Morrison visits the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge to explore 'Made in Ancient Egypt,' an exhibition revealing the untold stories of the craftspeople and techniques behind ancient Egyptian objects. Ben Luke speaks with Katlijne Van der Stighelen about the largest-ever exhibition of Baroque painter Michaelina Wautier at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, which will travel to the Royal Academy of Arts in London. The episode also features Robert Rauschenberg's iconic work 'Bed' (1955), part of the exhibition 'Five Friends' at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, which brings together artists John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Cy Twombly.

Christie's presents its 20/21 Marquee Week - Christie's

Christie's will host its 20/21 Marquee Week in London from October 8, 2025, featuring six live and online sales of Impressionist, Modern, Post-War, and Contemporary art during Frieze Week. Highlights include works by Lucian Freud, Peter Doig, Paula Rego, Yoshitomo Nara, Claude Monet, Paul Cezanne, Louise Bourgeois, Chris Ofili, Paul Signac, Gerhard Richter, and Pablo Picasso, along with the Ole Faarup Collection. The event also includes a philanthropic initiative called Architects for the Birds, with birdhouses designed by architects including Norman Foster, Renzo Piano, and David Chipperfield, benefiting the Tessa Jowell Foundation; an exhibition of wearable sculptures and an installation by artist Natasha Wightman; and a continued partnership with the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair.

Christie's Paris Art Week - Christie's

Christie's will hold a series of modern and contemporary art auctions and events in Paris during late October 2025, coinciding with the fourth edition of Art Basel Paris. The sales feature major works including a monumental Yves Klein monochrome (estimate on request), Alberto Giacometti's 'Femme debout' (€5-7M), Paul Signac's 'La Passerelle Debilly' (€4-6M), and pieces by Pierre Soulages, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and others. The week opens on October 23 with 'Moderne(s), une collection particulière européenne,' a private collection of 40 European avant-garde works, followed by the flagship 'Avant-Garde(s) including Thinking Italian' sale.

Mary Boone Stages a Triumphant Return With the Art Titans of 1980s New York

Mary Boone has co-curated "Downtown/Uptown: New York in the Eighties" at Lévy Gorvy Dayan in New York, a sprawling exhibition of over 60 works by artists who defined the 1980s art scene, including Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Cindy Sherman, and Julian Schnabel. The show, running until December 13, 2025, features Warhol's portraits of Boone's former stable of artists and highlights the cross-pollination of Neo-Expressionism, street art, and political critique that made New York the epicenter of the art world.

Agnes Gund, collector and philanthropist who helped transform MoMA, has died, aged 87

Agnes Gund, the influential American arts philanthropist and collector, has died at age 87. Gund was a transformative figure at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, serving on its board from 1976, as president from 1991 to 2002, and later as president emerita. She helped raise funds for MoMA's $858m expansion, donated around 100 works to the museum, and pushed for acquisitions of women and artists of color. Beyond MoMA, she founded Studio in a School in 1977 to bring art education to New York City public schools and co-chaired a Sotheby's auction to support Miss Porter's School. Her death was first reported by The New York Times; she is survived by four children.

Kerry James Marshall, National Gallery expansion, Picasso’s Three Dancers—podcast

This podcast episode from The Art Newspaper covers three major art stories. Ben Luke tours Kerry James Marshall's retrospective 'The Histories' at the Royal Academy of Arts in London—the largest European survey of the US artist's work—with curator Mark Godfrey, and visits a related exhibition of Marshall's graphic novel 'Rythm Mastr' at The Tabernacle in Notting Hill. The National Gallery in London announces a £400m expansion called Project Domani, the largest transformation in its 200-year history, with £375m already raised, and a shift in its collecting boundary beyond 1900. Finally, Tate Modern's centenary exhibition 'Theatre Picasso' centers on Pablo Picasso's 'The Three Dancers' (1925), discussed with co-curator Natalia Sidlina and designer Enrique Fuenteblanca.

After 50 years, LA Louver is closing its gallery in Venice, California

LA Louver, the longest-running gallery in Los Angeles, is closing its Venice, California space after 50 years in business. Founder Peter Goulds, who turns 77 next month, is transitioning the gallery into a private dealing model with pop-up exhibitions from its Jefferson Boulevard warehouse in West Adams. The Venice space will be listed for sale but remain open by appointment to sell inventory. The gallery is also donating its extensive archive to the Huntington Library in San Marino, which includes papers of writers like Octavia Butler and Christopher Isherwood.

How the Studio Museum in Harlem Reshaped the Art World

The Studio Museum in Harlem, founded in 1968 in a rented loft above a liquor store, will open its first purpose-built 82,000-square-foot building on West 125th Street this fall, following a landmark $300 million capital campaign led by director and chief curator Thelma Golden. Designed by Adjaye Associates with Cooper Robertson, the new facility doubles the exhibition and studio space and includes dedicated areas for performance, education, and public programs. The museum, which has operated without a permanent space since 2018, has been a pioneering platform for artists of African descent, launching the careers of figures like David Hammons, Kerry James Marshall, Glenn Ligon, and Simone Leigh through its groundbreaking exhibitions and artist-in-residence program.

Portland Art Museum announces major gift to endow Museum’s top position from Portland’s “First Family of the Arts”

The Portland Art Museum announced a $13.5 million gift from the late Arlene Schnitzer and the Schnitzer family, the largest individual donation in the museum's 132-year history. The endowment names the museum's director position, currently held by Brian Ferriso, as the Arlene & Harold Schnitzer Director. The Schnitzers, known as Portland's 'First Family of the Arts,' have supported the museum for nearly half a century through acquisitions, exhibitions, capital campaigns, and the creation of the Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Center for Northwest Art and the Schnitzer Sculpture Court. The gift is part of the museum's Connection Campaign, which will culminate in a transformed campus opening November 20.

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Announces Historic Expansion Opening

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, has announced a historic expansion, increasing its size by 50 percent to 114,000 square feet, with a grand opening scheduled for June 6 and 7, 2026. The expansion, designed by Safdie Architects, includes fully reimagined galleries and is celebrated by two landmark gifts: 18 major works by women artists donated by chairperson Olivia Walton and her husband Tom Walton, and 200 artworks by over 100 artists donated by collectors Candace and Michael Humphreys. The Walton gift features artists such as Yayoi Kusama, Alice Neel, and Njideka Akunyili Crosby, while the Humphreys gift introduces many new artists to the museum's holdings.

Crystal Bridges Museum's expansion will open in June 2026

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, announced its expansion will open on June 6, 2026, adding 114,000 square feet—a 50% increase in size. Designed by Safdie Architects, the project began in 2022 and includes hundreds of newly donated works, the largest gift in the museum's history: over 200 pieces from Dallas-based collectors Candace and Michael Humphreys. Additional donations from board chair Olivia Walton and her husband Tom include 18 works by women artists, honoring her late mother, gallerist Monique Knowlton.

Global Icons, Local Spotlight: Contemporary Art from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer

The Portland Art Museum (PAM) will open "Global Icons, Local Spotlight: Contemporary Art from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer" in September 2025, featuring over 75 works from the collections of Oregon collector Jordan D. Schnitzer and his Family Foundation. The exhibition includes pieces by major 20th-century artists like Jasper Johns, Helen Frankenthaler, and Robert Rauschenberg, as well as contemporary figures such as Nick Cave, Mickalene Thomas, and Jeffrey Gibson, many shown publicly for the first time. Highlights include Christopher Myers' installation "Let the Mermaids Flirt with Me," debuting at PAM after its 2022 Art Basel Miami premiere.

17 NYC art exhibitions we’re most excited about in fall 2025

The article highlights 17 New York City art exhibitions opening in fall 2025, with six previewed in detail. Major events include the long-awaited reopening of the Studio Museum in Harlem on November 15 with a new seven-floor building and shows featuring Tom Lloyd and works from its collection; the New Museum's reopening after renovation with the inaugural exhibition "New Humans: Memories of the Future"; and the Whitney Museum's "Sixties Surreal" exhibition surveying American art from 1958 to 1972. Other notable shows include a Robert Rauschenberg centennial exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum, Ai Weiwei's public installation "Camouflage" on Roosevelt Island, and a fashion-focused exhibition at the Hispanic Society Museum & Library.

Allen Rosenbaum, former director of Princeton University Art Museum with a keen curatorial eye and astute administrative foresight, dies at 88

Allen Rosenbaum, the former director of the Princeton University Art Museum who led the institution from 1980 to 1999, died on August 3, 2025, at Calvary Hospital in New York City at age 88. Rosenbaum joined Princeton in 1974 as assistant director under Peter Bunnell, and during his 25-year tenure as director, he significantly expanded the museum's collections, adding major works such as Giulio Cesare Procaccini's "The Martyrdom of Saint Justina," Pinturicchio's "Saint Bartholomew," and Pietro da Cortona's "Saint Martina Refuses to Adore the Idols." He also oversaw the 1989 opening of the Mitchell Wolfson Jr. Wing, which added 27,000 square feet of exhibition space.

The 7 Best Art Shows to See This Fall, From N.Y.C. to San Francisco

The article previews seven major art exhibitions opening across the United States this fall, from New York City to San Francisco. Highlights include a rare U.S. retrospective of Finnish painter Helene Schjerfbeck at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the first comprehensive U.S. survey of Afro-Cuban surrealist Wifredo Lam at the Museum of Modern Art, and a long-overdue museum retrospective for multimedia artist Suzanne Jackson at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Other featured shows include Yoko Ono's traveling retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Announces Its MetLiveArts Fall and Winter 2025–26 Season

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced its MetLiveArts fall and winter 2025–26 season, featuring world premiere performances and commissions created specifically for the museum's galleries, as well as concerts in the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium. The season highlights a significant number of new works by female artists, including composers and musicians Gabriela Ortiz, Wu Man, Hanzhi Wang, Emily Wells, Layale Chaker, and Leilehua Lanzilotti. Performances will draw inspiration from the Met's collection and special exhibitions like 'Man Ray: When Objects Dream,' with events beginning September 9, 2025, featuring Wu Man and The Knights. The season also includes the JACK Quartet as the museum's 2025–26 Quartet in Residence and the appointment of Sarah Jones as Head of Live Arts.