The art market is gearing up for a high-stakes spring season with major estate collections from S.I. Newhouse and Robert Mnuchin slated for auction at Christie’s and Sotheby’s, collectively valued at over half a billion dollars. Meanwhile, London’s spring marquee sales showed strong momentum, with Christie’s and Sotheby’s reporting significant year-over-year increases in their evening sale totals, despite a more modest performance from Phillips.
This week's art industry roundup covers major developments across auctions, galleries, and institutions. Christie's will auction René Magritte's 'Les grâces naturelles' (ca. 1961) as the star lot of its Art of the Surreal evening sale in London on March 5, with an estimate of £6.5–9.5 million. Zona Maco in Mexico City has announced 241 exhibitors for its 22nd edition, including a new section called Forma. The London Art Fair reported strong sales for British women abstract painters, while Vienna's Spark Art fair canceled its 2025 edition for a strategic pause until 2027. In gallery news, Amy Sherald signed with Creative Artists Agency, and several other artist-gallery representation changes were announced. The U.K. government pledged £1.5 billion to support cultural organizations from 2025 to 2030, and Tarek Atoui was named the next Turbine Hall commission artist at Tate Modern.
The art world saw significant roster changes and leadership appointments this week, including Roberts Projects announcing representation of Esmaa Mohamoud and Cristin Tierney adding Debbi Kenote. Notable institutional moves include Charles Chemin being named Artistic Director of the Watermill Center and Julia Siemon stepping into a newly created Deputy Director role at the Bard Graduate Center. Additionally, the mid-season auction market showed unexpected strength, highlighted by Jeff Koons’s 'Winter Bears' selling for $7.6 million at Christie’s.
Christie's London will auction a major collection of modern and contemporary art from Belgian collectors Roger and Josette Vanthournout during its March marquee sales week. The collection, estimated at £40 million ($53.8 million), spans six decades of collecting and includes works by René Magritte, Henry Moore, Pablo Picasso, Yayoi Kusama, Lucio Fontana, Agnes Martin, and Max Ernst. It will be offered across three sales: a March 5 evening sale, a March 6 daytime sale, and an online sale from February 25 to March 12. Highlights include Magritte's 'La plaine de l'air' (1940) and Moore's 'Goslar Warrior' (1973–74), each estimated at £3.5–5.5 million.
Sotheby's is auctioning Maurizio Cattelan's solid gold toilet, titled "America" (2016), during its November evening sale at the Breuer Building in New York. The 18-karat, 100-kilogram functional toilet will be on view from November 8, though visitors will not be allowed to use it. The starting bid will be determined by the work's weight in gold, estimated around $10 million. The piece was previously exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum in 2016, where over 100,000 visitors used it, and at Blenheim Palace in the UK, where it was infamously stolen in a smash-and-grab heist and never recovered. Sotheby's will accept cryptocurrency for the sale, following the precedent set by Cattelan's banana artwork last year.
Christie’s London achieved a robust £197.5 million ($265 million) across a triple-header of evening sales, including the 20th/21st Century, Art of the Surreal, and the Vanthournout Collection auctions. The evening was headlined by a record-breaking £26.3 million sale of Henry Moore’s bronze sculpture 'King and Queen', alongside new auction highs for Surrealist artists Toyen and Dorothea Tanning. Despite some pre-sale withdrawals and a marathon four-hour runtime, the house achieved a 96 percent sell-through rate by lot.
Christie’s opened New York’s fall marquee auctions with a $690 million evening sale across 79 lots, surpassing the pre-sale low estimate of $534.7 million. The doubleheader included the Robert and Patricia Ross Weis collection and a 20th-century sale, with works by Picasso, Matisse, Mondrian, Rothko, and others. The sell-through rate was 97% by value and 96% by lot, marking a 41% increase from May’s auctions. Separately, Sperone Westwater, a New York gallery that championed artists like Bruce Nauman and Francesco Clemente, announced it will close after 50 years. Art Basel Hong Kong also revealed its 2026 edition will feature 240 galleries from 42 countries.
Christie’s opened New York’s fall marquee auctions with a $690 million evening sale across 79 lots, surpassing the pre-sale low estimate of $534.7 million. The doubleheader included the Robert and Patricia Ross Weis collection, featuring works by Picasso, Matisse, Mondrian, and Rothko, followed by a 20th-century sale. The auction achieved a 97% sell-through rate by value and a 96% by lot, marking a 41% increase from May’s auctions. Separately, Sperone Westwater gallery announced it will close after 50 years, and Art Basel Hong Kong revealed details for its 2026 edition featuring 240 galleries.
Sotheby's has relocated its New York headquarters to Marcel Breuer's iconic Brutalist building on Madison Avenue, formerly home to the Whitney Museum, the Met Breuer, and a Frick Collection outpost. After a renovation by Herzog & de Meuron that restored original gallery proportions and upgraded infrastructure, the auction house is inaugurating the space with a series of exhibitions featuring three major single-owner collections—Leonard A. Lauder, Cindy and Jay Pritzker, and Exquisite Corpus—estimated at over a billion dollars. Highlights include Gustav Klimts from the Lauder trove, a Van Gogh still life from the Pritzker collection, a Frida Kahlo painting expected to set a record for a woman artist, and a Basquiat work in the contemporary evening sale.
Christie’s postwar and contemporary art day sale in London on Thursday totaled £12.2 million ($16.4 million), with over 80% of lots sold and 90% of those achieving prices within or above their presale estimates. Standout results included a 2020 painting by Somaya Critchlow that sold for £57,150 (est. £15,000–£20,000), a small Etel Adnan painting that fetched £107,950 (est. £30,000–£50,000), and a Michelangelo Pistoletto mirror piece that soared to £234,950—seven times its estimate. Works from the Ole Faarup collection and the Tiqui Atencio and Ago Demirdjian collection also performed well. However, a Toyin Ojih Odutola painting failed to sell, and Gerhard Richter’s gray paintings from the 1970s attracted little interest, mirroring a similar failure in Christie’s evening sale the previous day.
Sotheby's will offer Jean-Michel Basquiat's 1981 painting *Crowns (Peso Neto)* in its fall contemporary evening sale in New York with a high estimate of $45 million, the highest estimate ever for a Basquiat work from that pivotal year. The painting, never before auctioned, is described by the house as marking the artist's transition from street artist to international art star. Separately, Art Basel has released the exhibitor list for its inaugural fair in Qatar, featuring 87 galleries including heavyweights like Hauser & Wirth, Gagosian, and Pace, with all booths dedicated to solo presentations curated by artistic director Wael Shawky.
Christie's will offer three major paintings by Gerhard Richter in its March evening sales in London and Hong Kong. The London sale on March 5 features the 1984 photo-painting 'Schober (Haybarn)', estimated at £6 million, and a 1991 'Abstraktes Bild' abstract work, estimated at £4.5-6.5 million. The Hong Kong sale on March 27 will offer a larger 1991 'Abstraktes Bild', estimated at HK$78-98 million ($10-13 million), coinciding with Art Basel Hong Kong.
Christie’s will offer Yoshitomo Nara’s painting "Haze Days" (1998) at its 20th/21st century evening sale in London on October 15, with an estimate of £6.5 million–£8.5 million ($8.7 million–$11.4 million). The large-scale work comes to auction shortly after Nara’s retrospective at London’s Hayward Gallery, his first UK institutional solo show. The painting was previously consigned to Sotheby’s in 2023 with an $18 million estimate but was withdrawn before sale.
Christie's will auction Pierre-Auguste Renoir's 1876-77 painting 'La femme aux lilas (Portrait de Nini Lopez)' in its 20th Century Evening Sale on May 18, with an estimate of $25 million to $35 million. The work has been owned by the Whitney Payson family since 1929 and is being sold from the collection of the late Lorinda Payson de Roulet, daughter of the original buyers, Joan Whitney Payson and Charles Payson.
Christie's London will offer Wassily Kandinsky's painting *Le Rond Rouge* (1939) with a high estimate of £15.5 million ($21.3 million) in its 20th/21st Century evening sale on March 5. The work, a key piece from the artist's Paris period, has been in prominent collections and was last sold at Sotheby's New York in 2018 for $20.6 million. A major Henry Moore bronze sculpture, *King and Queen* (1952-53), with a £15 million estimate, will also headline the same sale.
Christie's London will offer Wassily Kandinsky's painting *Le Rond Rouge* (1939) with a high estimate of £15.5 million ($21.3 million) in its 20th/21st Century evening sale on March 5. The work, a key piece from the artist's Paris period, has been in prominent collections and was last sold at Sotheby's New York in 2018 for $20.6 million. The sale will also feature a fresh-to-auction Henry Moore bronze sculpture, *King and Queen* (1952-53), estimated at up to £15 million.
Four major paintings by Claude Monet, Paul Signac, Edgar Degas, and Fernand Léger will be offered at Sotheby's Modern and Contemporary evening sale in London on March 4. The works have a combined high estimate of £24 million, led by Monet's rare Italian Riviera scene 'Maison de Jardinier' (1884) with an £8.5 million high estimate.
Sotheby’s Paris raised €18.6 million ($21.5 million) from two live sales of the Manny Davidson collection this week, with a third online sale still ongoing. The collection, spanning nearly 500 lots, included rediscovered Old Masters, 18th-century gold enamel, and an automaton clock by James Cox. Highlights included Michael Sweerts’s *A young man wearing a turban holding an upturned roemer: the fingernail test* (1648–52), which sold for €1.6 million, and Joshua Reynolds’s *Self-Portrait, in doctoral robes* (ca. 1770), which fetched €838,200. The evening sale achieved 83% sell-through by lot, with most buyers from Europe and a third from the US.
Sotheby's will offer Jean-Michel Basquiat's 1981 painting *Crowns (Peso Neto)* as the headline lot of its contemporary evening sale in New York this fall, carrying a high estimate of $45 million. The work, which has never been auctioned before, debuted at Basquiat's landmark 1982 solo show at Annina Nosei Gallery and later appeared at Documenta 7. It will be exhibited in London during Frieze Week, then in Paris coinciding with Art Basel Paris, before arriving at Sotheby's new Breuer Building headquarters in New York ahead of the November 8 sale.
Christie’s will sell over 70 works from the collection of Arnold and Joan Saltzman during its fall marquee sales in November, with a group estimate exceeding $70 million. The modern art collection includes pieces by Pablo Picasso, Fernand Léger, Edvard Munch, František Kupka, Robert Delaunay, Henri Matisse, and Henry Moore. The top lot is Léger’s 1914 painting *Composition (Nature Morte)*, estimated around $20 million, from his celebrated 'Contraste de formes' series. Other highlights include Henry Moore’s bronze *Reclining Woman: Elbow* (1981), estimated at $9–12 million, and Henri Matisse’s *Femme au chapeau fleuri* (1923), estimated around $10 million. The collection was assembled over 60 years and will be featured in Christie’s 20th century evening sale on November 17, with additional lots in day sales on November 18.
Christie’s will sell over 70 works from the collection of Arnold and Joan Saltzman during its fall marquee sales in November, with a group estimate exceeding $70 million. The modern art collection includes pieces by Pablo Picasso, Fernand Léger, Edvard Munch, František Kupka, Robert Delaunay, Henri Matisse, and Henry Moore. The top lot is Léger’s 1914 painting *Composition (Nature Morte)*, estimated around $20 million, from his celebrated 'Contraste de formes' series. Other highlights include Henry Moore’s bronze sculpture *Reclining Woman: Elbow* (1981), estimated at $9–12 million, and Henri Matisse’s *Femme au chapeau fleuri* (1923), estimated around $10 million. The collection, built over 60 years, will be featured in Christie’s 20th century evening sale on November 17 and day sales on November 18.
Artnet News reports on the November 2025 day sales in New York, following the evening sales that signaled a market comeback. Hot lots included Gertrude Abercrombie's "Message for Mercy" (1950), which sold for $1.2 million at Sotheby's, setting a new auction record for the artist. Other strong performers were Julia Jo's "Rhyme or Reason" (2022) at Christie's for $203,200 and Mary Abbott's "Forest of Dak" (1965) at Phillips for $167,700. Top flops included Jacques Lipschitz's "Tete" (conceived 1915), which sold for $152,400 against a $300,000–$400,000 estimate at Sotheby's, and Sterling Ruby's "SP44" (2008), which underperformed at Christie's.
A four-minute bidding war erupted at Christie’s 20th-century evening sale in New York on November 17 over John Singer Sargent’s watercolor *Gondolier’s Siesta* (1902–03). The work sold for $7.4 million with fees, more than double its $3 million high estimate, setting a new auction record for a work on paper by the artist. Another Sargent painting, *Capri* (1878), also performed strongly in the same sale, fetching $11.5 million with fees.
An early Jean-Michel Basquiat painting, *Crowns (Peso Neto)* (1981), sold for $48.3 million at Sotheby’s contemporary evening sale on Tuesday night, exceeding its pre-sale estimate of $35–45 million. The work, making its auction debut, was created when Basquiat was 21 and features his signature motifs of crowns, black faces, and cartographic lines. Bidding lasted five minutes, with Sotheby’s chairman for China Jen Hua winning on behalf of a phone client. The painting had been held in three private collections over four decades and was previously exhibited at Basquiat’s first solo show at Annina Nosei, documenta 7, the Whitney Museum, and the Fondation Louis Vuitton.
A major bronze sculpture by Henry Moore, 'King and Queen' (1952-53), will be the top lot at Christie's 20th/21st Century evening sale in London on March 5. The work, estimated at £15 million ($20.5 million), is the first cast from an edition and the only one remaining in private hands, having been acquired directly from the artist by its current anonymous owner.
Sotheby's held its inaugural evening sale at the Breuer building, featuring the Contemporary and the Now sale. Auctioneer Oliver Barker achieved $527.5 million in sales, surpassing the pre-sale low estimate of $379 million. The highlight was Gustav Klimt's portrait of Elisabeth Lederer, which sold for $236.4 million, setting an auction record for Klimt and becoming the second most expensive work ever sold at auction. During the sale, auctioneer Phyllis Kao wore a David Webb necklace from the mid-1980s, featuring carved emeralds, rubies, and cabochon sapphires, which was on view and available for private sale at Sotheby's retail salon in the Breuer lobby.
The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., is proceeding with plans to sell major works by Georgia O’Keeffe, Arthur Dove, and Georges Seurat at Sotheby’s next week, despite sharp backlash from former curators, members of the Phillips family, and a faction of the museum’s non-governing members body. The works—including O’Keeffe’s *Large Dark Red Leaves on White* (1925, est. $6–8 million), Seurat’s conté crayon drawing ($3–5 million), and Dove’s *Rose and Locust Stump* (1943, est. $1.2–1.8 million)—will be offered in Sotheby’s marquee evening sales on November 20 at its new Breuer building headquarters. Additional works by Anish Kapoor, Leland Bell, Howard Mehring, Henri Fantin-Latour, Picasso, and Milton Avery will also be sold in surrounding sales. Director and CEO Jonathan Binstock, who joined in March 2023, says proceeds will fund a permanently restricted endowment for commissioning new work by living artists, acquisitions, and collection care, aligning with founder Duncan Phillips’s support for contemporary practitioners.
At Sotheby’s Modern evening auction, René Magritte’s 1942 painting *Le Jockey perdu*—which the artist considered a turning point in his career—sold for over $12.3 million, exceeding its high estimate. The work was part of a group of ten consignments from the estate of shopping mall magnate Matthew Bucksbaum and his wife Carolyn “Kay” Bucksbaum, influential collectors and philanthropists who met on a blind date in 1952. Alongside works by Salvador Dalí, Jean Dubuffet, Paul Klee, and Joan Miró, the evening sale netted more than $25 million, with remaining pieces appearing in subsequent day sales.
P.P.O.W. gallery has taken on representation of artist Owen Fu, who recently had a solo show with the gallery in New York and will be represented jointly with Antenna Space in Shanghai. Nicola Vassell Gallery now represents Na Kim, an artist known for her book covers and figurative paintings. Jessie Washburne-Harris has been named Global Director at White Cube, overseeing the gallery's U.S. growth. Chris Sharp Gallery added Mark A. Rodriguez to its roster, and Berry Campbell took on the estate of Louisa Chase. Mexico City dealers Misa Yamaoka and Yuna Cabon launched an artist residency program at Third Born gallery. The article also reports that combined evening sales at Christie's, Phillips, and Sotheby's in Hong Kong totaled $136 million, a significant drop from $208.6 million last fall, and highlights the rising market for 17th-century artist Michaelina Wautier.
P.P.O.W. gallery has taken on representation of artist Owen Fu, while Nicola Vassell Gallery now represents Na Kim, known for her book covers and paintings. Jessie Washburne-Harris has been named Global Director at White Cube, overseeing the gallery's U.S. growth. Chris Sharp Gallery added Mark A. Rodriguez to its roster, and Berry Campbell took on the estate of Louisa Chase. Mexico City dealers Misa Yamaoka and Yuna Cabon launched an artist residency program at Third Born gallery. The article also reports that combined evening sales at Christie's, Phillips, and Sotheby's in Hong Kong totaled $136 million, a significant drop from $208.6 million last fall, and highlights the rising market interest in 17th-century artist Michaelina Wautier.