The article reports on the best-selling lots at auction in the first half of 2025, covering Old Masters, Impressionist and Modern, and Postwar categories. Key sales include a pair of Francesco Guardi views of Venice that sold for $10.5 million at Sotheby's New York, a Piet Mondrian abstraction from the estate of Barnes & Noble founder Leonard Riggio that fetched nearly $50 million, and a François-Xavier Lalanne rhinoceros-shaped desk that tripled its high estimate after a 13-minute bidding war. The data is drawn from the Artnet Intelligence Report Mid-Year Review 2025.
This analysis matters because it reveals shifting dynamics in the art market: Old Master sales rose 24% year-over-year, though top prices were lower; Impressionist and Modern lots saw fewer works exceeding $20 million compared to 2024; and the Postwar market showed a new center of gravity in the $5 million-to-$15 million range, where taste and connoisseurship converge. The emergence of Indian modernists like M.F. Husain and Tyeb Mehta alongside established names signals growing global demand for South Asian postwar art, while Surrealism continues to attract collectors seeking art-historical precedents at lower price points than top-tier Modern works.