"This year's May auctions in New York are shaping up to be a major moment for the art trade, with works cumulatively estimated at to bring between $1.8bn and $2.6bn coming up for sale at Christie's, Sotheby's, Phillips and Bonhams. The auction houses will be looking to build on the momentum of last November's sales, whose results were widely seen as signs of recovery after a three-year slump-and the optimism in the field is palpable."
"At Sotheby's alone, the sales' low pre-sale estimate of $690.4m is 70% higher than the total hammer figure from the May 2025 season, and on the high end, the auction house could bring in as much as $942.5m. And Christie's is aiming even higher, with an expected total between $1b and $1.5b."
"The expected top lot from , hitting the auction block at Rockefeller Center on 20 May, is Gerhard Richter's Kerze (Candle), which is part of his unexpected turn from celebrated abstractions to still-life painting in the 1980s. The dealer purchased the 1982 painting before she began representing Richter in 1985 and found it so inspirational she sent him a cold letter suggesting they work together-a partnership that would go on to last 40 years. Christie's has given the canvas an estimate of $35m to $50m."
"Sotheby's has placed a $130m total estimate on , which are the subject of a dedicated evening sale at the Breuer Building on 14 May. The group is led by a $70m to $100m Mark Rothko painting titled Brown and Blacks in Reds (1957). Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc acquired it the year Rothko painted it and it is believed to have shaped the direction of Rothko's famed Seagram Mural commission for New York's Four Seasons restaurant the following year."
New York May auctions are expected to be a major moment for the art market, with Christie's, Sotheby's, Phillips, and Bonhams offering works estimated to total between $1.8bn and $2.6bn. Auction houses are building on momentum from last November’s sales, which were widely viewed as signs of recovery after a three-year slump. Sotheby's projects a total between $690.4m and $942.5m, while Christie's targets between $1bn and $1.5bn. The most anticipated estates are split between Christie's and Sotheby's, with Christie's handling Marian Goodman’s collection and Sotheby's offering Robert Mnuchin’s holdings. Top lots include Gerhard Richter’s Kerze (Candle) and Sotheby’s Rothko-led evening sale featuring Brown and Blacks in Reds (1957).
Read at The Art Newspaper - International art news and events
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