È il grande Mark Rothko a guidare le prime aste di Sotheby’s a New York
Sotheby's kicked off New York's art and auction week with two major sales on May 14, 2026, led by the highly anticipated Robert Mnuchin: Collector at Heart Evening Auction. The top lot was Mark Rothko's "Brown and Blacks in Reds" (1957), which sold for $85.8 million, the second-highest price ever for the artist at auction. The Mnuchin auction achieved a "white glove" sale, selling all 11 lots for a total of $166.3 million, followed by The Now & Contemporary Evening Auction which brought in $266.8 million. Combined, Sotheby's generated $433.1 million, a 133% increase over its May 2025 session. The sales reflect a strong return of high-value trophy lots to the secondary market, driven by the dispersal of prominent collectors' estates.
This auction cycle matters because it signals a sustained rebound in the high-end art market, fueled by the estates of legendary dealers and collectors. Robert Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs partner turned influential gallerist (Mnuchin Gallery), died in December 2025 at age 92, and his collection's sale mirrors similar dispersals of Barbara Gladstone's and Daniella Luxembourg's collections at Sotheby's in 2025. Christie's will follow in May 2026 with the personal collection of gallerist Marian Goodman. The return of trophy lots, often guaranteed, indicates strong demand for blue-chip postwar and contemporary works, reinforcing the market's reliance on single-owner sales from iconic figures.