Art experts say sales at the fall auction in New York next week are expected to exceed $1.4 billion, a 50% increase from last year and a potential recovery for the art market after three years of decline.
Famous star-studded trophy pieces, from a $150 million Gustav Klimt portrait to a multi-million dollar gold toilet, will headline the Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips auctions next week. Often the most important week of the year for the art market, the sales follow recent better-than-expected sales in Paris and London, which could restore confidence in the art market.
Dealers and auction executives said the improvement was driven by increased demand and improved supply. Lower interest rates, higher stock prices and trillions of dollars of wealth creation in both public and private markets in recent months have boosted confidence among wealthy buyers.
At the same time, ultra-rare masterpieces are starting to appear on the auction block as sellers become more confident in their prices and bids.
“There was very strong demand in the art market throughout the year,” Sotheby’s CEO Charles Stewart said. “Our demand levels have been setting records, whether it’s the number of bidders per lot or hammering on low estimates and sell-through rates. But what we’ve been seeing recently is that supply is catching up with demand. Something has definitely changed in the last two months.”
This week’s big headliners come from the billionaire Leonard Lauder fortune of the Estée Lauder Company and Jay and Cindy Pritzker of the Pritzker real estate dynasty. Sotheby’s is selling 55 works from Lauder’s collection for a total of more than $400 million. The works include Klimt’s colorful “Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer,” estimated at more than $150 million, as well as two Klimt landscape paintings, one estimated at more than $70 million and the other at more than $80 million. Also on display are six bronze sculptures by Matisse and one of Edvard Munch’s famous painting Midsummer Night.
The cost of this David Hockney Christie’s painting, “Christopher Isherwood and Don Bakadi,” is estimated at $40 million to $60 million.
Crystal Lau | CNBC
The Pritzker Collection includes 37 works estimated at more than $120 million, including a Van Gogh still life estimated at more than $40 million.
Christie’s has several popular works estimated at $40 million to $60 million, including Monet’s water lily painting “Nympheas” and David Hockney’s “Christopher Isherwood and Don Bacardi.” Mark Rothko’s “No. 31 (Yellow Stripe)” is also on sale for more than $50 million.
“Next week will be a big sigh of relief that we’ve gotten through the worst,” said veteran art advisor Andrew Fabricant. “The atmosphere is better and I think it will do well, given the quality of what they have. You don’t need 20 years of art history to understand the appeal of Klimt’s paintings.”
Sotheby’s will benefit from its new world headquarters, which opened last week in Manhattan’s famous Breuer Building. The building, considered a masterpiece of Brutalist architecture, is strategically located in the upscale shopping district of Madison Avenue and is already packed with spectators, with more than 10,000 people visiting the exhibition hall as of Wednesday. Topic and visibility are central to Sotheby’s strategy to attract new collectors and educate the next generation of bidders about art and culture.
“This is a very important moment for us,” Stewart said of the building’s opening. “I think a lot of the consignors (sellers) were also excited about this opportunity.”
Still, auction sales have been declining for three years, and some dealers and art experts are wondering whether next week’s recovery will have staying power. As older collectors disappear from the auction scene, the next generation of buyers and collectors are exhibiting different priorities and tastes.
Older collectors often sought status trophies and “wall power” from established artists, while younger collectors lean toward emerging artists and lower-priced works. The generational divide has created two distinct art markets: a declining multimillion-dollar luxury market and a vibrant lower-end market that attracts younger collectors.
Sales of works worth $10 million or more fell 44% in the first half of this year compared to 2024 and plummeted 72% compared to their post-pandemic peak in 2022, according to Bank of America Private Bank’s Art Market Update. While no works sold at auction for more than $50 million in the first half of this year, 13 works sold in the same price range during the same period in 2022.
In 2024, dealers with sales under $250,000 reported a 17% increase in sales, while dealers in the $10 million and above segment saw a 9% decline.
“The more mature collectors are aging, and the next generation may come with different motivations and tastes,” said Drew Watson, head of art services at Bank of America. “Many of the older generations of collectors, hedge fund principals and private equity investors over the last 30 years have gotten to the point where they are less focused on accumulation and more focused on succession and transition.”
Mr Watson said the decline in auction market value, mainly due to a downturn in ultra-luxury goods, was overshadowing an increasingly thriving gallery and art fair scene full of young collectors buying and learning about new artists. Young collectors are also interested in building direct connections with artists rather than buying on the secondary market or at auction.
“Collecting seems to be becoming more of a lifestyle,” he says. “Art fairs are crowded.”
Sotheby’s will be auctioning off Maurizio Cattelan’s solid gold toilet called “America” as part of its fall auction.
Crystal Lau | CNBC
Next week’s sale will also feature works that have already sparked global debates about wealth and art. Sotheby’s will auction off the solid gold toilet “America” created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, also the creator of the infamous duct-taped banana (titled “The Comedian”), which sold for $6.2 million at Sotheby’s.
America is one of two toilets that Cattelan made from 100 kilograms (approximately 220 pounds) of solid 18-carat gold. One version was exhibited at New York’s Guggenheim Museum in 2016, where it was installed in a bathroom and drew long lines of visitors.
It was then displayed at Blenheim Palace in England, where it was believed to have been stolen and melted down for gold.
The second piece is for sale and has fallen into the hands of a private collector. The New York Times reported that hedge fund billionaire and New York Mets owner Steve Cohen is the seller.
Sotheby’s has not disclosed sales expectations for “America,” but the gold itself would be worth about $13 million at current prices, which have soared over the past year.
Stewart said “America,” like “Comedians,” is a true cultural phenomenon.
“What I loved about bananas last year was that it sparked a debate,” he said. “Wherever you go in the world, no matter what it is, people have a point of view about it, and that’s sparked a lot of lively discussion. I think it’s the same with ‘America,’ because there are so many elements in this piece that are fascinating, whether it’s the object itself, the title, the gold coin, the art historical references. When you put it all together, it becomes something very exciting.”
Many dealers and art experts take a different view, saying that “America” is more pure spectacle than art, and says little about serious collectors and artists.
“This is headline-grabbing stuff that has nothing to do with art,” Fabricant said.
