Christie’s New York spring sales brought in a combined $489 million across two evening auctions, including the Leonard and Louise Riggio collection ($272 million) and a 20th-century evening sale ($216 million). While sell-through rates were high at 94%, bidding was shallow and several high-profile lots underperformed: a Mondrian estimated at $50 million sold for $47.6 million, a Magritte from the Empire of Light series matched its 2023 price at $34.9 million, and a Lucio Fontana canvas that sold for $14 million in 2017 fetched just $7.5 million. Andy Warhol’s Big Electric Chair was withdrawn last minute amid a reported $10 million gap between seller and buyer expectations. The sales were bolstered by third-party guarantees and came hours after news of a temporary US-China tariff détente.
The results underscore a cautious, risk-averse market where consignors and auction houses are leaning on guarantees to secure sales, but buyer demand remains tepid for all but the most exceptional works. The underwhelming performance of blue-chip names like Mondrian and Magritte, alongside steep losses for speculative sellers, signals a widening gap between seller expectations and buyer willingness to pay. This dynamic, compounded by geopolitical uncertainty, suggests the art market is entering a period of recalibration, where record prices may be reserved for truly rare or fresh-to-market pieces rather than trophy lots with recent auction histories.