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auction records

Paris apartment interior shows two François-Xavier Lalanne sheep sculptures beside a floor lamp, with a black vase on a plinth in the foreground

New York’s Design Sales Offered a Clearer Picture of What Serious Collectors Want

From French postwar design and American studio craft to ceramics, Tiffany lamps and contemporary collectibles, buyers at Sotheby's and Phillips pursued rarity in all its forms.
By Elisa Carollo
A photograph of an auction scene at Christie’s shows auctioneer Yü‑Ge Wang on the podium, mid‑gesture, selling Gerhard Richter’s Kerze (Candle). Two large screens flank her: the left displays the sale price in multiple currencies (USD 30,000,000; EUR 25,812,000; GBP 22,524,000; CHF 23,604,000; JPY 4,768,086,000; HKD 234,798,000; CNY 204,234,000), while the right shows the lot details, including the painting’s title, date (1982), dimensions, and a photograph of the candle. The room is filled with seated bidders, some capturing the moment on phones, conveying a tense and attentive atmosphere typical of high-stakes contemporary art sales.

Christie’s Wednesday Sales Achieved $162.7 Million as Bonhams’ 20th & 21st Century Evening Sale Topped $22 Million

"It's an exciting start to the week at our new flagship, and we look forward to carrying this energy through the remainder of our sales," Ralph Taylor, Bonhams global head of 20th and 21st-century art, said.
By Elisa Carollo
An auctioneer leads Sotheby’s Modern Evening Auction as Henri Matisse’s La Séance du matin appears on the screen beside a $17.5 million bid.

Sotheby’s $304M Modern Evening Auction Confirms the Market Has Found Its Footing

The auction house closed the sale with a 98 percent sell-through rate and strong results for fresh-to-market works from the Barbier-Müller, Donati and Wingate collections.
By Elisa Carollo
A Phillips auctioneer takes bids in a packed saleroom as Andy Warhol’s Sixteen Jackies appears on the screen beside its estimate.

Phillips’ $115.2 Million Evening Sale Was a Testament to the Power of Pre-Planning and Priority Bidding

By Elisa Carollo
An auctioneer stands at Christie’s rostrum during the sale of Jackson Pollock’s Number 7A, 1948, displayed on a large screen beside a $157 million hammer price, with the auction room audience seated in the foreground.

Christie’s $1.1 Billion Night Confirms the Health of the Market’s Upper End

By Elisa Carollo
An auctioneer leads a Sotheby’s sale before a seated audience, with a Mark Rothko painting displayed on the wall and bidding information shown on a screen.

Sotheby’s $433 Million Contemporary Evening and Mnuchin Sales Kicked Off New York’s May Marquee Auctions

By Elisa Carollo

The Eight-Figure Auction Lots to Watch in New York Next Week

By Elisa Carollo
A large Kenneth Noland painting shows concentric circles in red, yellow, ocher, pale blue and black, framed by loose blue and red brushstrokes.

Collector Jennifer Gilbert Is Selling Masterpieces at Sotheby’s to Fund a New Arts Nonprofit in Detroit

By Elisa Carollo
A small orange abstract painting hangs beside a window overlooking Central Park and a tall beige tower in the distance.

The Top Collections Leading the May Marquee Auctions

By Elisa Carollo
A reclining nude figure with pale skin lies curled against a richly patterned, dark decorative background filled with gold tones and organic motifs, suggesting a sensual, dreamlike scene.

What to Watch in Sotheby’s Masterpieces From the Lewis Collection Sale

By Christa Terry
A black-and-white portrait of Enrico Donati wearing a beret and holding a pipe, with the shadow of a mechanical object cast on the wall behind him.

The Last Surrealist: Artist Enrico Donati’s Collection Heads to Auction

By Elisa Carollo
A wide horizontal painting by Jackson Pollock covered in dense black drips, splatters and looping lines with scattered red accents stretches across a light canvas.

Christie’s Locks in the $450 Million S.I. Newhouse Collection

By Elisa Carollo
A living room interior shows a Calder mobile suspended from an ornate ceiling above a sofa, surrounded by modern furniture and artworks.

The $96 Million de Gunzburg Collection Just Set a New Bar for Design at Auction

By Elisa Carollo
A bright, refined interior shows a dining table with chairs, a large framed painting of a seated nude figure on an orange background and tall wooden cabinets beside sunlit windows.

Inside the Most Valuable Single-Owner Design Sale in Sotheby’s History

By Brook S. Mason
A large colorful abstract painting hangs above an ornate wooden chest in a bright living room with a sofa and decorative columns nearby.

Dealer Estates Will Once Again Headline New York’s May Marquee Auctions

By Elisa Carollo
A sculptural suit of armor with layered, scale-like plates and a helmet shaped like a snarling animal head, displayed against a black background.

What’s Behind the Million-Dollar Pikachu Cards and Record-Breaking Anime Auctions

By Elisa Carollo
Model wearing a large pale pink kite-shaped diamond ring with white diamond accents.

Luxury Auctions Surged Last Year, With Jewelry, Ferrari and Hermès Driving Record Results

By Elisa Carollo
A photo of a man in a blue shirt pointing at a Casablanca movie poster featuring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, with the background showing a Greta Garbo Hotel poster.

Meet the Collector: Dwight Cleveland On Turning Hollywood Ephemera into Museum-Worthy History

By Christa Terry

The First Jim Irsay Collection Sale Sets 23 World Auction Records

By Christa Terry
Adrien Meyer leads the bidding at Christie’s London as Henry Moore’s King and Queen appears on the screen behind the rostrum during the evening sale.

London Saw Few Auction Shakeups as Guarantees Steadied the Market

By Elisa Carollo
Auctioneer conducting bidding during Sotheby’s Modern & Contemporary Evening Sale in London, with works by Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon from the Joe Lewis collection displayed behind the podium.

Sotheby’s Opens the London Spring Marquee Sales With a £131M White-Glove Night

By Elisa Carollo
Logan Paul reacts dramatically during a live Goldin auction stream as a rare Pokémon card is revealed on a screen behind him, surrounded by collectors, cameras, and illuminated display posters.

A $16.5 Million Pikachu Illustrator Is Now the Most Expensive Trading Card Ever Sold at Auction

By Elisa Carollo
Auctioneer stands at the podium addressing a seated audience while Safeya Binzagr’s Coffee Shop in Madina Road appears on a large bidding screen.

Sotheby’s “Origins II” Results Suggest Saudi Collectors Are Prioritizing Legacy

By Elisa Carollo
Auctioneer conducts bidding at Christie’s New York during the Old Master Drawings sale, with the final price for Lot 8 displayed on screen

Historic Names, New Heights: Christie’s and Sotheby’s Log Over $200 Million in Old Masters Sales

By Elisa Carollo
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