Christie’s kicked off the fall auction season in New York with a two-part 20th-century art sale that brought in approximately $690 million, led by Mark Rothko’s *No. 31 Yellow Stripe (1958)*, which sold for $62.2 million. The evening featured 18 works from the collection of Robert F. and Patricia G. Ross Weis, totaling $218 million, followed by a 61-lot main sale that realized $471.7 million. Other top lots included Claude Monet’s *Nymphéas (1907)* at $45.4 million and a new auction record for Beauford Delaney’s *The Sage Black (1967)* at $1.5 million. The sale room at Rockefeller Center was packed, with strong bidding despite many works being third-party guaranteed.
The results signal a potential turnaround for the art market after months of uncertainty, with Christie’s setting estimates aligned to current market conditions—a strategy praised by experts as a winning formula. The $690 million total far exceeded the $486 million from the same sale last year and edged past 2023’s $640.8 million, suggesting renewed buyer confidence. The sale also highlighted the continued demand for blue-chip modern masters like Rothko and Monet, while the record for Delaney points to growing interest in overlooked 20th-century African American artists.