Art News. Vasari Codex

trending_up market schedule Dec 19, 2025 visibility 19 link 15 artists, 1 gallery

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 May 3, 2025 visibility 34 link 13 artists, 1 gallery

Ten Highlights From New York’s Spring Marquee Auctions

New York's spring marquee auctions are set for May 2025, with Christie's, Sotheby's, and Phillips presenting strong lineups after a 25% drop in total public sales in 2024. Highlights include the $250 million Leonard and Louise Riggio collection at Christie's, featuring Piet Mondrian's *Composition with Large Red Plane, Bluish Gray, Yellow, Black and Blue* (est. $50 million), and Alberto Giacometti's *Grande tête mince* (est. over $70 million) at Sotheby's. Other top lots include Lucio Fontana's *The End of God*, Jean-Michel Basquiat's *Baby Boom*, a Rothko from the Bass mansion, Claude Monet's *Crepuscular Peupliers*, Olga de Amaral's evening sale debut, a trove of 40 Roy Lichtenstein works, and an Ed Ruscha piece. The sales test market resilience amid supply constraints and a cautious art market.

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trending_up market schedule Dec 8, 2025 visibility 18 link 11 artists

most expensive lots sold at auction in 2024

Artnet News analyzed the 10 most expensive lots sold at auction in 2024, drawing on the Artnet Price Database. The top lot was René Magritte's *L'Empire de Lumières* (1954), which sold for $121.2 million at Christie's New York in November, setting a new auction record for the artist and becoming the only work to break nine figures this year. Other notable sales included Ed Ruscha's *Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half* (1964) at $68.3 million, Claude Monet's *Nymphéas* (1914–17) at $65.5 million, and Jean-Michel Basquiat's *Untitled (ELMAR)* (1982) at $46.4 million. Seven of the top 10 lots sold in New York, with Hong Kong, London, and Vienna also represented.

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trending_up market schedule Sep 30, 2025 visibility 14 link 2 artists

claude monet sale bankruptcy george allen weiss

Financier George Allen Weiss is seeking court approval to sell Claude Monet's painting *Nymphéas* (1914–17) for $36.5 million to an unnamed buyer, as part of his bankruptcy proceedings. Weiss filed for bankruptcy in June after a federal judge ruled he owed over $100 million in debt tied to his hedge fund, Weiss Multi-Strategy Advisers, which also filed for bankruptcy in 2024. The sale, handled through Weiss's GW Crown Holdings LLC, is intended to cover $123 million in debt to Bank of America, but Jefferies Strategic Investments has filed a limited objection demanding the buyer's identity be disclosed, citing a comparable Monet that sold for $65.5 million at Sotheby's.

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