Special Report: New York November Auctions

Art Market Bounces Back

Last week’s marquee auctions in New York delivered a stunning $2.2bn in sales, blowing past the pre-sale combined low estimate ($1.68bn) and becoming the highest total since November 2022. That headline figure has helped restore confidence after two years of relative market malaise clouded by turbulent geopolitical events and an uncertain macroeconomic climate. Part of the shock is just how quickly the mood has changed in the art market, with Art Basel (Basel) widely considered a subdued affair just five months ago and a string of gallery closures since then weighing on appetite. Yet, the fall season kicked off with Sotheby’s energetic sale of the Pauline Karpidas Collection, which preceded a stronger than expected Frieze week. Events in London offered momentum going into Art Basel Paris, where dealers brought choice artworks and prominent international collectors re-entered the fray with gusto, driving a buoyant atmosphere and a string of strong sales.

That renewed energy carried into the auctions last week, reinforced by the houses’ announcements of major collections replete with desirable, fresh-to-market property and compelling histories. Further galvanizing interest from both the traditional collecting class and the broader New York public was Sotheby’s highly successful inauguration of the iconic Breuer building, which lent the proceedings a sense of novelty and historical weight – some queues and salon-hung day sale galleries were just kinks of a new space and we expect to see improvement going forward. Lower interest rates, a weaker US dollar, a general acclimatization to various international tariff regimes, and a marked improvement in the situation in the Middle East all contributed additional macro tailwinds and a renewed confidence among collectors.

“In an increasingly volatile sociopolitical economic environment, market participants need to stay attuned to psychological sentiment among clients, which must be understood as a driver of data, rather than as a response.”

- Amy Cappellazzo -

Even amid elevated expectations, the week’s remarkable outperformance dispelled any lingering nervousness about proceedings – and the level of risk assumed by Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips – leading up to the sales. The consistently strong results for museum-quality blue-chip works underscored top-end buyers’ enduring firepower and the growing price delta between iconic masterpieces and the broader market. Ultimately, against the stuttering performances of previous seasons, the depth of bidding for standout works by Gustav Klimt, Vincent van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, Marc Chagall, Mark Rothko, Henri Matisse, and Alexander Calder, among others, reaffirmed the supply-side dynamics that govern the art market’s upper echelons: when masterworks appear for sale, buyers invariably turn out in force. After a few years trading sideways, the top-end of the market is demonstrating directional leadership upwards and driving a broader uptick in sentiment.

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