Art News. Vasari Codex

trending_up market schedule Nov 19, 2025 visibility 19 link 30 artists, 3 galleries

Sotheby’s Shatters Records at Its Breuer Debut as a $236.4M Klimt Leads the $706M Evening Sale

Sotheby's held its debut evening sale at the Breuer building in New York on November 18, achieving a record-breaking $706 million total. The highlight was the white-glove auction of Leonard A. Lauder's collection of 20th-century masterpieces, which alone brought $527.5 million. Gustav Klimt's portrait *Bildnis Elisabeth Lederer* (1914-16) sold for $236.4 million, setting a new record for the artist and for Sotheby's Modern category. The evening also included a strong Contemporary sale led by Maurizio Cattelan's golden toilet at $12.1 million, with active bidding from Asian collectors.

newspaper observer.com open_in_new Read original

trending_up market schedule Dec 17, 2025 visibility 13 link 1 artist

sothebys 2025 sales results analysis 1234767117

Sotheby's is projecting $7.0 billion in consolidated 2025 sales, a 17% increase over the previous year and the strongest result in the company's history. Auction sales rose 26% to $5.7 billion, driven by high-quality consignments including the Leonard A. Lauder Collection and a $236.4 million Klimt painting. Luxury sales climbed 22% to $2.7 billion, while RM Sotheby's surpassed $1 billion for the first time. The opening of Sotheby's new global headquarters at the Breuer Building was a commercial centerpiece, generating $1.17 billion in its inaugural week. The company also expanded rapidly in the Middle East, staging the first international auction in Saudi Arabia and launching Collectors' Week in Abu Dhabi.

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article culture schedule Dec 20, 2025 visibility 24 link 12 artists, 1 gallery

art words of the year 2727146

Artnet News critic Ben Davis presents his annual "art words of the year" for 2025, a curated list of terms that capture prevailing moods and ideas in the art world. The list includes "antimemetics" (from writer Nadia Asparhouva and internet fiction), "cyniserity" (coined by art writer David Colman to describe Anne Imhoff's work), "delightmare" (a horror-adjacent feeling linked to overconsumption and AI art, exemplified by Beeple's Art Basel installation), "elite capture" (from philosopher Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò's book, now a tool for critiquing identity politics in art), and "K-shaped" (an economic term describing divergent recovery, applied to gallery closures versus record auction sales).

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trending_up market schedule Nov 20, 2025 visibility 23 link 17 artists

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.

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trending_up market schedule Nov 19, 2025 visibility 22 link 23 artists

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.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

trending_up market schedule Nov 12, 2025 visibility 20 link 43 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).

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

trending_up market schedule Jan 12, 2026 visibility 11 link 3 artists

art market minute jan 12 2736336

Artnet's Price Database reveals signs of recovery at the top end of the art market in 2025, following three years of contraction. The article highlights gains in high-value sales, exemplified by Gustav Klimt's "Bildnis Elisabeth Lederer" pictured at Sotheby's Marquee Sales Series in New York. It also notes a growing trend of small and emerging galleries working with artists' estates, and reports that roughly half of art-backed loans by non-bank businesses defaulted in 2024.

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trending_up market schedule Dec 26, 2025 visibility 16 link 8 artists

10 top lots auction 2025 2723777

Gustav Klimt's portrait of Elisabeth Lederer topped the list of the most expensive artworks sold at auction in 2025, achieving $236.3 million at Sotheby's New York on November 18—far exceeding its $150 million estimate and setting a new record for the artist. The painting came from the collection of the late Leonard Lauder, who died in June at age 92. Other top lots included two more Klimts from Lauder's collection, a newly offered Basquiat, and a record-setting Frida Kahlo work, alongside notable sales by van Gogh, Rothko, Mondrian, Monet, and Picasso, with many of the highest prices achieved during the blockbuster November auctions at Sotheby's and Christie's.

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trending_up market schedule Dec 19, 2025 visibility 15 link 14 artists

The 10 Most Expensive Auction Works in 2025

The article reports on the ten most expensive auction lots of 2025, led by Gustav Klimt's 'Bildnis Elisabeth Lederer (Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer)' (1914), which sold for $236.36 million at Sotheby's, making it the second-most-expensive artwork ever sold at auction. The top end of the market rebounded after a quieter 2024, with the 100 most expensive lots totaling $2.13 billion, up from $1.8 billion the previous year. Nine of the top ten lots were sold during the marquee New York sales in November, where Sotheby's, Christie's, and Phillips together generated over $2 billion and set 16 artist auction records. The list includes multiple Klimt works from the collection of American philanthropist Leonard A. Lauder, as well as a Vincent van Gogh still life that sold for $62.71 million.

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trending_up market schedule Nov 19, 2025 visibility 13 link 9 artists

All you need to know about Klimt’s canvas that is now the most expensive modern artwork

Gustav Klimt's "Bildnis Elisabeth Lederer" (Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer) sold for $236.4 million at Sotheby's first auction in its new Breuer building location in New York, becoming the most expensive modern artwork ever sold at auction. The 1914-1916 portrait depicts Elisabeth Lederer, daughter of Klimt's patrons Serena and August Lederer, and was previously owned by Estée Lauder heir Leonard A. Lauder, who died earlier this year. The painting was looted by the Nazis during World War II, returned to the Lederer family in 1948, and later sold in 1983.

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trending_up market schedule Jan 12, 2026 visibility 16 link 6 artists

Art sales surge with artists like Picasso and Warhol in demand: Guggenheim

Art sales are surging after a two-year slump, according to prominent Canadian art advisor Barbara Guggenheim, CEO of Barbara Guggenheim Associates. In an interview with BNN Bloomberg, Guggenheim noted that collectors are now prioritizing quality, seeking established artists like Picasso and Warhol, and that fresh-to-market works are attracting strong bids. Recent record-breaking sales include Frida Kahlo's self-portrait for $54.7 million and Gustav Klimt's 'Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer' for $236.4 million at Sotheby's. The middle market remains robust, with works like Stuart Davis's 'Municipal' selling for $1.5 million, while lower-priced pieces under $30,000 are harder to guarantee as investments.

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trending_up market schedule Nov 20, 2025 visibility 17 link 4 artists

Klimt portrait sets new modern art record at $236.4 million New York auction

Gustav Klimt's portrait *Bildnis Elisabeth Lederer* (1914–1916) sold at Sotheby's New York on November 18 for $236.4 million, becoming the second most valuable artwork ever sold at auction and the most valuable modern work. The painting was the highlight of the Leonard Lauder collection sale, which totaled over $600 million. After a 20-minute bidding war, the portrait hammered at $205 million before fees, surpassing its $150 million estimate. The work, stolen by the Nazis during World War II, was acquired by Lauder in the 1980s.

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