consignors new york november auctions 2025

New York's November 2025 auction season is set to feature at least $1.67 billion in art across Sotheby's, Christie's, and Phillips, a 54% increase in estimates from the same period last year. The season is dominated by major estates, including Leonard Lauder's $400 million trove at Sotheby's with Klimt paintings and Matisse bronzes, Cindy Pritzker's collection featuring a Van Gogh, and anonymous Surrealist works. Christie's offers $736 million in low estimates from collections like Robert and Patricia Weis, Elaine Wynn, and Stefan Edlis. Phillips remains risk-averse, focusing on established names. The market shows a flight to quality, with emerging art reduced and delegated to day sales, while ultra-contemporary segments contract.

Consignors Revealed: The Mystery Sellers Behind the $1.8 Billion May Auctions

Sotheby's kicked off the May auction season with a $433 million sale, including an 11-lot group from the estate of late dealer Bob Mnuchin, led by an $86 million Mark Rothko painting. The three major auction houses are offering $1.8 billion worth of art by low estimate, a 50% increase from last year, driven by consignments from estates of key figures like Mnuchin, philanthropist Agnes Gund, and dealer Marian Goodman. Christie's will stage a sale from publisher S.I. Newhouse's collection expected to bring $450 million, potentially setting records for Jackson Pollock and Constantin Brancusi. The article reveals that many top sellers are anonymous, but unmasked names include the Dennison family and French collector John Sayegh-Belchatowski.

S.I. Newhouse’s 11-Foot-Wide Jackson Pollock Drip Painting Sells for Record-Breaking $181.2 M.

A Jackson Pollock drip painting, *Number 7A* (1948), formerly owned by media magnate S. I. Newhouse, sold at Christie’s on Monday night for a hammer price of $157 million, totaling $181.2 million with fees. The work, measuring nearly 11 feet wide, received over 60 bids in a 10-minute bidding war and set a new auction record for the Abstract Expressionist artist, surpassing the previous high of $61 million set in 2021. The winning bid was placed by a buyer represented by Christie’s global president Alex Rotter, with Swiss mega-dealer Iwan Wirth acting as an underbidder, possibly for collector Laurene Powell Jobs.

art historical rediscoveries 2025

Seven notable art historical rediscoveries from 2025 are highlighted, including an early Eva Hesse painting found at a Goodwill thrift store that sold for $107,100 at Christie's, a previously unknown John Singer Sargent portrait unveiled at the Musée d'Orsay, a Salvador Dalí watercolor bought for $186 that fetched $61,400 at auction, and a John Constable drawing resurfacing after 200 years. Other finds include works by post-minimalist and old master artists uncovered in attics, estate sales, and private collections, often identified by sharp-eyed dealers or lucky amateurs.

It is the great Mark Rothko leading Sotheby's first auctions in New York

È il grande Mark Rothko a guidare le prime aste di Sotheby’s a New York

Sotheby's kicked off New York's art and auction week with two major sales on May 14, 2026, led by the highly anticipated Robert Mnuchin: Collector at Heart Evening Auction. The top lot was Mark Rothko's "Brown and Blacks in Reds" (1957), which sold for $85.8 million, the second-highest price ever for the artist at auction. The Mnuchin auction achieved a "white glove" sale, selling all 11 lots for a total of $166.3 million, followed by The Now & Contemporary Evening Auction which brought in $266.8 million. Combined, Sotheby's generated $433.1 million, a 133% increase over its May 2025 session. The sales reflect a strong return of high-value trophy lots to the secondary market, driven by the dispersal of prominent collectors' estates.