Christie's kicked off New York's November auction season with a double-header 20th-century evening sale on November 17, achieving $574.7 million before fees and $690 million with fees. The sale featured 80 lots, including 18 from the collection of supermarket magnate Robert Weis and his wife Patricia Ross Weis, which alone tallied $184.5 million ($218 million with fees). Highlights included Pablo Picasso's *La Lecture (Marie-Thérèse)* selling for $45.4 million, Mark Rothko's *No. 31 (Yellow Stripe)* for $62.1 million, and a record $2.5 million for Leonor Fini's *Dans la tour (Autoportrait avec Constantin Jeleński)*. The sell-through rate was 94%, with two artist records set.
The strong results, well surpassing last November's $485.9 million total, signal a recovering art market and renewed buyer confidence. The sale's success, driven by third-party guarantees and high-value lots from both a private collection and various owners, underscores the resilience of the top-tier market for Modern and contemporary works. The performance also highlights the continued dominance of blue-chip artists like Rothko, Picasso, and Matisse, while the record for Fini points to growing interest in previously overlooked female Surrealists.