Tag: Ed Ruscha

The Art Market Enters 2026 With Renewed Confidence and a Sharper K-Shape Divide

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Experts’ view on the market performance for the different artist segments over the next 12 months. Source: ArtTactic Art Market Expert Survey – January 2026

As Observer predicted would happen in our own end-of-year reporting, the market’s K-shaped divide will only become more acute: the most robust performance and dynamic deal flow are expected either at the top end—above the $1 million mark—or in the more accessible tiers below $50,000, while the middle market remains sluggish, especially for contemporary artists whose prices outpaced their résumés on the way into the five-figure range.

While 51 percent of experts surveyed expressed a positive outlook for the over-$1 million segment, confidence has rebounded even more sharply in the lower tiers, with 61 percent of respondents expecting a stronger year, compared with just 44 percent in 2025. Even on the heels of a stellar fall auction season, most experts—57 percent—agree that the secondary and auction markets will recover more quickly than the primary market, where 46 percent anticipate a flat year of post-bubble stability and only 35 percent foresee a comparable revival.

Across period categories, demand continues to concentrate around a limited number of names. For example, while the $236.4 million record-breaking Klimt sale contributed to the Modern segment’s standout performance—reaching $1.38 billion in 2025, up 19.4 percent year over year—the survey shows that auction sales were largely driven by just three top performers: Pablo Picasso (up 23.8 percent), Mark Rothko (up 122.2 percent) and Alexander Calder (up 108.9 percent). Similarly, on the Postwar and Contemporary side, the strongest gains were recorded by institutionally and market-consolidated artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Gerhard Richter, David Hockney, Ed Ruscha and Yoshitomo Nara, all of whom have been the subject of major museum exhibitions in recent years, reinforcing both buyer interest and market confidence.

Meanwhile, as the ultracontemporary segment continues to cool, all five of the top-selling Young Contemporary artists at auction—Matthew Wong, Nicolas Party, Avery Singer, Shara Hughes and Jadé Fadojutimi—have experienced year-over-year declines in both lot volume and total sales since 2023. Nicolas Party, once a market phenomenon, saw his total auction sales fall from a peak of $20,170,129 in 2023 to $2,497,160 in 2025. It remains unclear whether his current exhibition of 40 pocket-size paintings at Karma New York is intended to reignite market interest or to strategically introduce more accessible price points for new buyers after prices rose too quickly to sustain demand. Only 10 works were actually offered for sale, priced between $165,000 and $205,000, and all sold. The remaining three quarters of the exhibition consist of works from the artist’s archive—replicas of earlier pieces—intended, perhaps, to maintain visibility and keep his “myth” alive.

Installation view: Nicolas Party’s “Dead Fish” at Karma Chelsea. Courtesy Karma

More broadly, compared with the near-impossible waiting lists of the recent past, many of these artists are now considerably more accessible on the primary market, provided buyers are willing to meet revised price expectations. This shift may help explain the increase in unsold, withdrawn or canceled lots at recent auctions, unless estimates were already adjusted to create a sense of “deal.” A vivid 2022 abstraction by record-setting artist Jadé Fadojutimi, for example, failed to sell at Phillips last November, likely due to an overly ambitious $800,000-1,200,000 estimate. At Frieze Seoul in September, Taka Ishii presented an entire booth of her works priced between a more accessible $475,000 and $610,000, all available for sale on preview day.

Holding periods and annual rates of return

Looking at 81 repeat sales in the contemporary segment, the average annual rate of return (CAGR) fell to +2.3 percent (not inflation-adjusted), down from +5.1 percent the previous year. Short-term resales were particularly weak: nine works resold within five years posted an average annual loss of -9.2 percent. While it’s best to avoid framing art purely in financial terms, analysis confirms that, in today’s post-wet-paint-bubble market, historically validated works held for extended periods by the same owner deliver the strongest resale outcomes.

In the Impressionist category, for example, at least 67 percent of resold lots generated positive returns, up slightly from 65 percent in 2024, with an average annual return of +5.4 percent (not inflation-adjusted), compared with +4.3 percent the previous year. The average holding period increased to 27.3 years from 22.9 years in 2024, while the top 10 performing lots achieved an average CAGR of +18.2 percent over an average holding period of 14.6 years. The strongest individual result of 2025 was Tamara de Lempicka’s Femme Assise (1925), which sold for $522,357 (including buyer’s premium) at Christie’s Hong Kong in September 2025 after being acquired in 2015 for $31,283—an annualized return of +30.3 percent over a ten-year holding period.

Returns are even more polarized in the Postwar category when holding periods are factored in. According to ArtTactic, among 10 works resold within five years, the average annual loss was -7.6 percent. In contrast, works held for more than two decades delivered significantly stronger results, with average annual returns of +9.6 percent, rising to an average CAGR of +19.1 percent over a 15.3-year holding period.

In today’s post-wet-paint-bubble market, historically validated works held for extended periods by the same owner deliver the strongest resale outcomes. Source: ArtTactic Art Market Expert Survey – January 2026

In the contemporary segment, the holding period proves decisive, as time allows living artists to achieve more meaningful institutional validation—helping justify price levels and fueling both demand and confidence. Longer-held works, particularly those owned for more than 20 years, continued to perform more positively, delivering average annual returns of +8.9 percent. The strongest result was Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s Womanology (2010), which sold for $573,181 (including buyer’s premium) at Phillips London in March 2025 after having sold for $90,600 at Christie’s London in 2014, yielding an annualized return of +19.4 percent over a 10.4-year holding period.

Political uncertainty and market expectations

One of the most revealing elements of the report is the extent to which art market experts’ sentiment aligns with rapidly shifting global geographic and economic conditions—particularly given how eventful the year’s opening has been. Despite growing political division and rising tension at both national and international levels, the Federal Reserve Bank’s Blue Chip survey of professional forecasters still projects about 1.9-2.0 percent real GDP growth for 2026, with inflation hovering around 2.9 percent and unemployment slightly higher than in 2025. At the 2026 World Economic Forum, U.S. officials suggested even stronger early-year momentum, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick forecasting first-quarter GDP growth above 5 percent. Reinforcing this relative resilience, all 33 U.S. banks with assets over $50 billion posted positive total returns last year.

Yet political uncertainty is clearly filtering into market expectations. While art expert sentiment toward the U.S. art market as the primary global center remains broadly positive heading into 2026, more optimistic growth expectations declined from 52 percent in 2025 to 48 percent in 2026. The current political and economic environment has also shaped experts’ perceptions of London and, more broadly, the U.K., which was once the undisputed second global center of the art market. Nearly half of respondents—49 percent—expect the British art market to remain at current levels, reflecting cautious confidence but also an acknowledgment that punitive tax policies targeting high-net-worth individuals—compounded by the longer-term disruptions of Brexit—have increasingly pushed wealth toward other global centers rather than attracting it.

Despite growing political division and rising tension at both national and international levels, the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank’s Blue Chip survey of professional forecasters still projects about 1.9-2.0 percent real GDP growth for 2026. Source: ArtTactic Art Market Expert Survey – January 2026

Despite Europe entering 2026 in a phase of growing fragility—marked by heightened geopolitical tension, economic deceleration and a visible erosion of political leverage on the global stage—expert sentiment toward the continent has nonetheless improved. Positive expectations for Europe’s role in the art market rose from 17 percent to 28 percent, primarily driven by Paris’s renewed positioning as the most dynamic global art hub. Still, with the overall economic growth outlook for 2026 remaining sluggish at around 1.3 percent with slower wealth expansion than in other regions, most experts anticipate a stabilized, largely flat market characterized by incremental improvements rather than a full revival or renewed growth cycle.

Experts increasingly agree that power dynamics—and particularly the financial force shaping the future of the art market—are shifting toward new geographies. Unsurprisingly, with the arrival of Art Basel and Frieze and the success of Sotheby’s early Saudi sales, the Middle East—and the Gulf in particular—stands out as the most bullish region heading into 2026, with 76 percent of experts expecting positive market performance and minimal downside risk. This confidence is driven not only by the growing concentration of wealth but also by robust public investment in cultural infrastructure, an expanding institutional presence and sustained government-backed initiatives, with tourism authorities partnering directly not only with global museum brands but also, increasingly, with fairs and auction houses. Although the Middle East still accounts for a relatively small share of global turnover and activity remains concentrated in a limited number of centers, with regional economic growth projected at around 3.9 percent in 2026, its fairs and institutions are emerging as new magnets for international market activity at a moment when other regions face slower growth and mounting political headwinds.

South Asia and Southeast Asia are the other regions experts expect to sustain growth, driven by rising domestic wealth, increasing international recognition of regional artists and expanding institutional engagement that continue to bolster market confidence. This momentum is further reinforced by a younger, increasingly affluent population drawn to art, design and luxury collecting, with growing spending power. According to Christie’s year-end results, younger and new buyers from the region accounted for 37 percent of global luxury auction spending. Reflecting this shift, 53 percent of respondents now believe the art market in South Asia will continue its ascent, up from 32 percent last year. In comparison, positive expectations for Southeast Asia have climbed to 48 percent, up from 35 percent in 2025. India, in particular, remains the region’s anchor market, supported by strong domestic demand, projected economic growth of around 6.4 percent in 2026 and a rapidly expanding base of high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals.

The primary gateway to the region remains Hong Kong, where all major auction houses have doubled down over the past year, investing heavily in expansive, experience-driven luxury headquarters. While auction results in 2025 were uneven and buyer behavior at Art Basel Hong Kong was notably more conservative, expert sentiment toward the city has improved sharply. Positive expectations for Hong Kong as the region’s leading art-market hub rose from 19 percent to 48 percent, while negative views fell dramatically from 52 percent in 2025 to just 14 percent heading into 2026.

China’s improving art-market outlook appears increasingly driven by ultra-high-net-worth individuals and internationally mobile capital, particularly as it continues to funnel through Hong Kong’s established financial and cultural infrastructure. Source: ArtTactic Art Market Expert Survey – January 2026

This rebound in confidence has unfolded alongside renewed optimism around mainland China. Despite escalating geopolitical tensions and U.S. tariffs, China posted approximately 5.0 percent economic growth in 2025, meeting the government’s official target and marking a modest rebound amid persistent domestic weakness and external pressures. While domestic consumption remained subdued—with retail sales growing only about 3.7 percent—and private museums continued to close throughout 2025, the improving art-market outlook appears increasingly driven by ultra-high-net-worth individuals and internationally mobile capital, particularly as it continues to funnel through Hong Kong’s established financial and cultural infrastructure.

Looking more broadly across Asia, experts also anticipate renewed energy in the South Korean market following a slow year and sluggish sales at Frieze Seoul, as the initial contemporary boom gave way to more conservative behavior—even among younger buyers. Thirty-four percent of experts expect a positive turn (up from 16 percent in 2025), supported by a broader wealth outlook pointing to moderate economic recovery, with growth projected at around 1.9-2.0 percent in 2026, driven by semiconductors, A.I.-related investment and a rebound in domestic consumption. This recovery is expected to be measured rather than explosive, as the market stabilizes after a speculative phase and becomes increasingly supported by institutional engagement and a more selective, quality-driven collector base.

Stability is also expected to continue to characterize Japan’s steadily evolving art market, in line with its broader economy and political landscape. Neutral sentiment among experts rose to 65 percent (up from 35 percent), reflecting a market historically anchored in mature institutions and seasoned players—largely resistant to speculative excess after having already absorbed its consequences during the 1980s boom.

Looking to the other side of the Americas, despite slowing regional growth and heightened geopolitical tension heading into 2026, confidence in the Latin American art market is strengthening, with positive expectations rising to 41 percent on the back of record-setting Modern sales and increased international visibility.

Experts’ outlook for Africa’s art market also remains stable rather than expansionary, with modestly improving sentiment and declining downside risk supported by selective institutional interest and growing international visibility—even as strong economic growth from a low base continues to be tempered by structural infrastructure constraints.

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Elisa Carollo

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January 27, 2026
Gagosian’s Kara Vander Weg On Shaping the Afterlife of an Artist’s Work

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The Truck Trio as shown in “Walter De Maria: The Singular Experience.” Courtesy Gagosian

Earlier this month, Gagosian debuted a stunning show featuring the work of Walter de Maria at its Le Bourget gallery in Paris. “Walter De Maria: The Singular Experience” was curated by Donna De Salvo and featured at its heart The Truck Trilogy, a trio of vintage Chevrolet pickup trucks outfitted with De Maria’s signature stainless-steel rods. The work was conceived in 2011 and completed in 2017, four years after De Maria’s death at the age of 77.

This was the same year that the gallery launched its “Building a Legacy Program,” which marshals the gallery’s extensive resources to ensure that artists remain in the minds of the public in the future, whether they are young, old, or deceased, through educational efforts and ambitious shows like “The Singular Experience.” The program has been spearheaded by Kara Vander Weg, a managing director at the gallery, whom we caught up with to hear more about its origins and processes.

How did the idea for the Building a Legacy Program originate in 2017, and what gaps in artist or estate planning was it meant to address?

KVW: The catalyst was Walter De Maria, an artist who had been close to the gallery since the 1980s, dying in 2013 without a will. The lack of preparation threw his estate into turmoil but, fortunately, the gallery was able to help address a number of immediate practical needs, including preserving and documenting his archives. Nuanced decisions had to be made about his intentions and his work, including how it was displayed. Walter was incredibly precise and exacting, and to go from his presence, a resource that was always there, to nothing was a profound shock, particularly for Elizabeth Childress, who had managed his studio for decades.

Through our work with the Richard Avedon Foundation, which began in 2011, we learned a lot about the challenges and questions they faced when Dick had died suddenly several decades earlier. It has been instructive to learn about their organization, which is impressive, and implemented processes for decision-making as the artist would have wished.

Through our work with artists and with their subsequent estates and foundations—which is inevitable when working together over many years—we have seen that balancing an artist’s legacy with ongoing operational concerns can be incredibly challenging. As much as the gallery, as an entity outside of the family or studio, can be helpful, we want to be. For all artists, it is ideal to have some plans for legacy decisions in place. And as the value of art has grown, it has become even more important to have detailed wishes outlined, particularly when it comes to decisions like posthumous work, as well as planning for the resources necessary to carry an artist’s legacy forward.

A symposium felt like the right way to address some of these delicate topics and provide a space for knowledge sharing between our artists and others. Peer-to-peer support can be an exceptionally helpful resource, and many of the connections that have been made through the symposia continue to be fruitful for the artists and estates.

The team behind Gagosian Quarterly also saw an opportunity to address many of the questions on people’s minds through thoughtful content in the magazine. We launched an ongoing series featuring conversations with experts in the field of artists’ estates and legacy stewardship who offer insights that hopefully prove useful to artists, their staff, foundations and estates, scholars, and others.

In working with estates like Walter De Maria’s or Nam June Paik’s, what have been the most revealing challenges in realizing an artist’s intentions after death?

KVW: Honoring an artist’s wishes and intentions is always the biggest challenge.

With Walter, we’ve had to make decisions about how to install his work at a level he would have permitted. Fortunately, both Larry [Gagosian] and I worked closely with him and have those experiences to draw on. We also owe a great debt to Elizabeth Childress for her constant counsel. For example, Walter was always incredibly precise about the surface on which his floor sculptures rested; it had to be completely unmarked. For an exhibition at our 21st Street gallery while he was still alive, I remember we had to bring in a trompe l’oeil painter to touch up marks on the concrete floor before he would agree to go ahead with the show. And for the current exhibition at Le Bourget, we had to find solutions to address the floor beneath 13, 14, 15 Meter Rows. These might seem like small things, but we know how critical they were to Walter.

He was also very resistant to putting out too much information about his work, because he wanted viewers to have a focused, unmediated experience of it. The downside is that, as a result, people haven’t really come to understand the thinking behind his practice. That’s why, for the Le Bourget exhibition, curator Donna De Salvo has included a number of drawings, some of which have never been seen before, something that would never have happened during his lifetime. Our hope is that this will offer the wider public a way into Walter’s thinking: his precision, a bit of his humor, and the connections between his early work and the later pieces for which he became known. These are things we believe are important, not only for his legacy, but also for the scholarship around his work.

The circumstances of our work on behalf of Nam June Paik are very different, and my colleague Nick Simunovic is best placed to talk about it. [Writer’s note: They wanted Nick to jump in here so I said why not.]

NS: In the case of Nam June Paik, we partnered with the Estate, who had a clear sense of the artist’s wishes, and we worked tirelessly over a decade to realize a number of important goals.

When we began working with the Estate in 2015, they were keen to work with a major gallery as a way to shine a spotlight on Nam June’s work, particularly given that the last exhibition sanctioned by the artist was 20 years prior. Larry [Gagosian] had noted that he felt that the artist was a bit lost in the market, and that was a view shared by the family. There was also a realization that there were gaps in the holdings of American museums.

We laid out a multi-tiered plan that began with that first show in Hong Kong in 2015 and culminated with a major survey in New York planned for 2020. The opening was delayed by the COVID pandemic but eventually opened in 2022.

We brought in noted curator John G. Hanhardt, who also organized the retrospectives of the artist’s work at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (1982), and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC (2011), in addition to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2000). We were able to strategize and execute against the artist’s wishes because we had clear direction from the Estate, including Nam June’s nephew Ken Hakuta, and input from partners like John Hanhardt and Estate curator Jon Huffman.

As a result of those efforts, works by the artist from that 2022 exhibition were placed with major museums including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, the Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden, and the Bass Museum of Art, filling a crucial gap in the artist’s canon and legacy.

How do you balance market considerations with curatorial or scholarly fidelity when guiding legacy work inside a commercial gallery?

KVW: The two are interconnected and I don’t think that is a bad thing, work needs to be placed with owners to ensure the highest level of scholarly fidelity. And good curatorial work can help to bolster an artist’s market.

The monograph Gagosian published for Walter De Maria is a great example. Little scholarly work had been done on his life, and through our work preserving the archive, we had an opportunity and the ability to take on the project. We had access to rarely seen archival material from his studio and the result is the first comprehensive survey of the artist’s entire oeuvre that explores both his creative career and his personal life.

It was a massive undertaking that was many years in the making, but the publication will support both future sales and exhibitions of his work. It has already served as the catalogue for the Menil Collection’s 2022-23 exhibition, Walter De Maria: Boxes for Meaningless Work.

The recent symposium in London gathered artists, curators, and foundation directors. What insights or points of friction surfaced about the future of legacy stewardship?

KVW: It was our third symposium on the topic of legacy planning, and there was a fascinating session during which I spoke with Mary Dean, Ed Ruscha’s studio director; Waltraud Forelli, Anselm Kiefer’s studio director and board member of the Eschaton–Anselm Kiefer Foundation; and Vladimir Yavachev, director of operations for the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation. A key takeaway from our conversation was the critical importance of hiring an archivist, ideally while an artist is alive.

Waltraud rightly pointed out that in addition to helping from an organizational perspective, hiring an archivist brought a realization that they couldn’t do everything alone. They needed to plan for a younger generation to continue their work and to take the time now to transfer that knowledge. For Vladimir, who has catalogue raisonné preparations underway, an archivist is particularly important given the volume of material that Christo and Jeanne-Claude retained.

Mary Dean emphasized another important point, the value of openness, even when addressing a sensitive topic like planning for a future one won’t be part of. For Ed, this is a living, evolving process that he actively engages in through the thoughtful placement of his works and archival material with institutional partners. For instance, the Getty Museum is currently in the process of receiving his street photograph archive. All of his films and artistbook archives are housed at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas, Austin. He has also made significant donations: Ed was born in Omaha, Nebraska, so the Joslyn Art Museum has a substantial collection of his work, and he has donated work to the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art in Oklahoma City.

Younger artists such as Titus Kaphar are building institutions during their lifetimes. How is the conversation about legacy changing for living artists?

KVW: There is a generation of artists today who are interested in philanthropic endeavors beyond their own artistic practices. Providing space and resources for the creation of foundations and community projects is a big priority and perhaps is an indication of legacy planning taking shape much earlier in artists’ careers.

There is a tradition of artists stepping up and supporting other artists, one example is Theaster Gates, who has devoted the past 15 years to his Rebuild Foundation. It’s a mantle that artists including Ellen Gallagher and Titus Kaphar are taking up with projects like the Nina Simone House and NXTHVN, respectively.

But this process isn’t new, there is a history of artist support with someone like Robert Rauschenberg, who during his lifetime formed an entity to help other artists, as did Roy Lichtenstein.

For galleries, support of an artist needs to evolve to include these priorities, which could be advice around the organization of studio resources or the make-up of a Board of Directors.

With “The Singular Experience” now open in Paris, featuring De Maria’s Truck Trilogy and 13, 14, 15 Meter Rows, what does this presentation demonstrate about Gagosian’s collaboration with the De Maria Estate? What are the lessons there for other artists planning their estate?

KVW: The relationship with Walter has always been very personal, his friendship and working relationship with Larry [Gagosian] stretches back more than 35 years, and it has anchored our long commitment to him and his work.

The approach is methodical and takes time, but the exhibition at Le Bourget is a product of that commitment. It’s his second show in the space and one that we had actually begun discussing before he died in 2013.

Showing Truck Trilogy outside of the United States for the first time is incredibly exciting. It was his last sculpture, conceived in 2011 and completed posthumously in 2017 according to his specific directions, so it touches on a lot of what we have talked about. It’s also wonderful to be showing 13, 14, 15 Meter Rows at the same time as his inclusion in the exhibition “Minimal,” curated by Dia Art Foundation’s director Jessica Morgan at the Bourse de Commerce, Paris. And it’s all taking place in the same month as Walter would have turned 90.

But the exhibitions are just one piece in a broader program that aims to cement and extend his legacy, from placing a group of early sculpture and drawings with The Menil Collection (a family that were early champions of the artist) and working with Dia Art Foundation to help conserve The Lightning Field to working tirelessly to publish his monograph. And the work continues as we try to find a home for his archive.

For artists working today, it can be hard to have the patience to play the long game, but that thought and planning is key. It can also be useful to talk with other artists and studios who are focused on this work. One of the benefits from the symposium was the exchange of ideas and the conversations that happened outside the sessions.

Looking across the gallery’s roster, what qualities distinguish the artists who are most intentional about shaping their own legacies while still alive? What do they have in common?

KVW: They have a clear sense of purpose regarding the direction of their work and its legacy. They like control, either maintaining it themselves or wisely bringing in the right studio leadership. They’ve built strong museum connections and have access to resources in terms of staff and space. It’s a reminder of the symbiotic relationship between the market and legacy, artists need resources to actively plan for the future.

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Dan Duray

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November 28, 2025
The Top Collections (and Their Top Lots) Headlining the $1.6 Billion November Sales

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The collection of Robert F. Weis and Patricia G. Ross Weis has an estimate in excess of $180 million. Christie’s

The November marquee sales in New York are among the most anticipated events on the global art calendar and the final litmus test of the market’s health after the London and Paris fairs and auctions. Leading the $1.6 billion New York auction week this November is a concentration of high-end, big-name collections, as single-owner sales have become an increasingly important tool for auction houses to secure major consignments and build momentum around a notable name and provenance. “A well-known individual definitely drives interest,” Elizabeth Siegel, vice president and head of private and iconic collections at Christie’s, told Observer.

Over the past decade these types of sales have accounted for 15.6 percent of total value, according to ArtTactic, reaching a peak of 31.3 percent in 2022 with the Paul G. Allen Collection. In the first 10 months of 2025 they continued to outperform with white gloves and records, reaching 18.5 percent of global auction value. In the final week of November in New York alone, single-owner sales are estimated at $706.8 million of total auction value. “A single-owner sale totally elevates prices. It gives them a real boost,” Lisa Dennison, chairman of Sotheby’s Americas, confirmed.

As New York’s fall auctions approach, here is a breakdown of the most anticipated collections set to appear as single-owner sales or within the marquee offerings, along with the top lots that have made headlines in the months leading up to this pivotal week for the art market.

The Leonard A. Lauder Collection at Sotheby’s

Gustav Klimt, Porträt der Elisabeth Lederer (Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer), 1914-16. Estimate in excess of $150 million. Courtesy of Sotheby’s

The $400 million Leonard A. Lauder: Collector sale on November 18 is one of the most anticipated auctions of the season, with Sotheby’s presenting a 24-lot evening sale at its new Breuer Building headquarters. Following Lauder’s passing last June, both Christie’s and Sotheby’s reportedly competed to secure what is considered one of the year’s most important consignments. Sotheby’s ultimately won the mandate, securing 55 masterworks from one of America’s great collectors and philanthropists, longtime Whitney patron Leonard A. Lauder, which will be split between the dedicated evening sale and a day session the following morning.

The undisputed star of the sale is Gustav Klimt’s Porträt der Elisabeth Lederer, estimated in excess of $150 million and poised to surpass the artist’s current auction record of $108.8 million (£85.3 million), also set at Sotheby’s with Dame mit Fächer (Lady with Fan) in London in 2023. Executed between 1914 and 1916, the portrait is among Klimt’s most refined full-length depictions, portraying the young Elisabeth Lederer, daughter of two of his greatest patrons. It epitomizes Vienna’s Golden Age, a moment when youth, beauty, color and ornamental splendor merged into a vision of pure elegance, while also revealing the influence of fin-de-siècle exoticism. The composition’s flattened perspective and sinuous lines echo Japonaiserie and Chinoiserie, visible in the Asian-inspired motifs floating around Lederer’s Poiret-style gown, a nod to Klimt’s fascination with Chinese and Japanese art and textiles. Confiscated by the Zentralstelle für Denkmalschutz in 1939 and restituted to the Lederer heirs in 1946, the painting was later acquired from the family by Serge Sabarsky, an early advocate of German and Austrian modernism in the United States, before entering Lauder’s collection in the mid-1980s.

Other exceptional Klimts in the sale are Blumenwiese (Blooming Meadow) (1908), an exquisite example of the artist’s floral-period landscapes with an estimate in excess of $80 million, and Waldhag bei Unterach am Attersee (Forest Slope in Unterach on the Attersee) (1916), a depiction of an undisturbed lakeside idyll that reveals Klimt’s growing affinity with Van Gogh’s expressive brushwork, estimated in excess of $70 million. The number and high-quality works by artists from the Vienna Secession in the collection can be attributed to Leonard A. Lauder’s connection with his brother Ronald S. Lauder, one of the most notable collectors of the movement and co-founder and president of the Neue Galerie in New York. Both were sons of Estée and Joseph Lauder, founders of The Estée Lauder Companies.

Additional highlights include an emotionally charged, psychologically complex Edvard Munch, Sankthansnatt (Johannisnacht) (Midsummer Night) (1901-03), estimated at $20 million, six bronzes by Henri Matisse expected to realize a combined $30 million and an immaculate graphite grid by Agnes Martin, The Garden, exemplifying her mastery of geometric precision and meditative restraint.

The Collection of Robert F. and Patricia G. Ross Weis at Christie’s

Rothko’s No. 31 (Yellow Stripe), 1958. Estimate on request, in the region of $50 million.

Over more than 50 years, Patricia G. Ross Weis and Robert F. Weis assembled a collection that reflected not only the evolution of 20th-century art between Paris and New York but also the life journey they shared. The 18-lot single-owner Collection of Robert F. and Patricia G. Ross Weis sale on November 17 is expected to generate between $92.35 million and $136.7 million, accounting for more than half of the collection’s total estimated value of $180 million, which includes another 80 works that will be distributed across additional auctions and categories.

The top lot is a vibrant yellow-and-orange Mark Rothko painted in 1958, the same year the artist completed his monumental murals for the Four Seasons restaurant in Manhattan’s Seagram Building. Acquired by the couple from PaceWildenstein in 1995, the work boasts an extensive exhibition history, including its inclusion in the important AbEx show the Beyeler Foundation staged in 1989. Estimated at around $50 million and backed by a third-party guarantee, the canvas stands as one of Rothko’s most powerful expressions of American abstraction, its layered chromatic fields pulsing with contained, tormented energy and sublime atmospheric depth.

Another star lot in the collection is Piet Mondrian’s Composition with Red and Blue (estimate: $20-30 million), signed and dated “PM 39-41.” This rare-to-auction painting belongs to the artist’s transatlantic period, as Mondrian began it in Europe and completed it in New York between 1939 and 1941. Its distinguished exhibition history includes “Mondrian: Nature to Abstraction” at the Tate in 1997. The work exemplifies Mondrian’s rigorous balance of line, color and luminous white ground, an essential yet conceptually intricate dialogue at the heart of his practice.

Other anticipated works include an early Fauvist landscape by Georges Braque, Henri Matisse’s lyrical Figure et bouquet (Tête ocre) from his Nice period (estimate: $15-25 million), and Pablo Picasso’s La Lecture (Marie-Thérèse), a portrait of his muse estimated in the region of $40 million. Another exemplary work, one that justifies the sale title “A Tale Between Two Cities,” is the bold gestural abyssal composition Pierre Soulages painted in Peinture 161 x 200 cm, 14 novembre 1958, offered at $5-7 million, which resonates with the essential black marks on a white ground in Franz Kline’s Placidia from 1961 (estimate: $10-15 million).

Robert F. Weis made his fortune as chairman of Weis Markets Inc., a family-run food company founded in 1912 in rural Pennsylvania, where the couple lived. A lifelong learner and avid reader, he developed a deep appreciation for art. Patricia Weis, born in New York City, shared his passion for art, architecture and design, an interest first sparked by an uncle in the fashion industry. She began collecting after meeting Lucie Rie and Hans Coper on a trip to London. Together, the pair became prominent philanthropists supporting educational, cultural, civic and medical institutions: Patricia served on the boards of Bard College and Franklin & Marshall College, while Robert was a Sterling Fellow at Yale University and sat on its Committee on Buildings and Grounds. They also championed Jewish causes and supported the Lown Cardiovascular Research Foundation, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the Metropolitan Opera.

The Cindy and Jay Pritzker Collection at Sotheby’s

A $40 million Vincent van Gogh, Romans Parisiens (Les Livres jaunes), leads this Sotheby’s sale. Photo: Michael Tropea | Courtesy of Sotheby’s

The other major consignment Sotheby’s has secured for November is the Cindy and Jay Pritzker Collection, which is expected to generate a total in excess of $120 million. Known for founding the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1979—often called the “Nobel of architecture”—the Chicago-based couple extended their devotion to creative excellence beyond the built environment, assembling a collection that reflects the breadth and rigor of their cultural philanthropy.

Headlining the November 20 Cindy and Jay Pritzker Collection sale, which immediately precedes Sotheby’s Modern Evening Auction at 7:30 p.m., is Vincent van Gogh’s Romans Parisiens (Les Livres jaunes) (1887), a radiant still life from the artist’s Paris period in which a stack of yellow-bound books becomes a portrait of his voracious intellect. Estimated at $40 million, the painting was acquired by the Pritzkers in 1994 through Richard L. Feigen & Co. and boasts an extensive literature and exhibition history spanning major institutions across Europe and the United States, including the show “Van Gogh à Paris” at the Musée d’Orsay (1988), “Vincent van Gogh Paintings” at the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, Amsterdam (1990), and “Vincent van Gogh and the Modern Movement, 1890-1914” at Museum Folkwang, Essen, and the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (1990-91). The work last appeared publicly in “Van Gogh and Gauguin: The Studio of the South” at the Art Institute of Chicago (2001-02), “The Real Van Gogh: The Artist and His Letters” at the Royal Academy of Arts, London (2010), and “Van Gogh’s Bedrooms” at the Art Institute of Chicago (2016). The preparatory painting for this canvas is held in the Van Gogh Museum’s permanent collection.

Comparing the present work to Piles of French Novels in the Van Gogh Museum, scholars have described it as particularly revealing of the artist’s stylistic transition. If the earlier study, flatter in tone and more monochromatic, reflects his fascination with Japanese prints through its block-like composition and restrained palette, the painting in the Pritzker Collection reintroduces depth and vitality through rhythmic dashes and loose strokes of the Neo-Impressionist style Van Gogh adopted in his final Paris months.

Among the other highlights of the sale are Henri Matisse’s sensuous triptych Léda et le cygne (1944-46), estimated at $7-10 million, and Paul Gauguin’s La Maison de Pen du, gardeuse de vache (1889), painted during his Pont-Aven period and carrying a $6-8 million estimate. Additional highlights include Max Beckmann’s Der Wels (Catfish) ($5-7 million), Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s Hallesches Tor, Berlin (1913, $3-5 million), a large-scale outdoor sculpture by Joan Miró ($4-6 million), and a lyrical Camille Pissarro landscape from his second Pontoise period ($1.2-1.8 million).

The breadth of the Pritzker holdings will extend beyond the November sale, with further lots offered next month in Sotheby’s Books and Manuscripts, Sculpture and Works of Art, Chinese Works of Art, and Design auctions. Together, the ensemble is expected to bring tens of millions of dollars across multiple sales.

The Elaine Wynn Collection at Christie’s

Richard Diebenkorn, Ocean Park #40 (1971). Estimate: $15-25 million. Christie’s

Christie’s also secured the remarkable collection of Elaine Wynn, the late philanthropist and “Queen of Las Vegas,” who passed away this April. Celebrated for her discerning eye and the remarkable assemblage she built both alongside and independently of her former husband, casino magnate Steve Wynn, her estate is estimated at over $75 million. Nine of the top works will be featured in the 20th Century Evening Sale on November 17, two in the 21st Century Evening Sale on November 19, with the remainder to follow in the Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale.

The highlights from her collection span centuries and movements yet share the same standard of excellence that defined Wynn’s collecting ethos. On the Modern side, the top lot is Richard Diebenkorn’s transcendent Ocean Park #40, which will be offered in the 20th Century Evening Sale with an estimate of $15-25 million. The work returns to the rostrum just as Gagosian announces its representation of the Diebenkorn estate and inaugurates a dedicated exhibition at its Upper East Side gallery. Wynn acquired the painting at Sotheby’s in 2021, when it achieved a then-record $27.3 million. Diebenkorn’s auction record now stands at $46.4 million, set by his 1965 Recollections of a Visit to Leningrad at Christie’s New York in November 2023, placing the current estimate well within range yet poised to surpass it amid renewed market attention following Gagosian’s endorsement. Before its last sale, Ocean Park #40 was featured in the traveling museum exhibition dedicated to the series at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and the Orange County Museum of Art (2011-2012), as well as Acquavella Galleries’ 2018 show pairing Diebenkorn’s California scenes with those of Wayne Thiebaud.

Other top lots include J.M.W. Turner’s poetic Ehrenbreitstein (estimate: $12-18 million) and a refined Parisian scene by Georges Seurat. On the postwar side, headline works are Lucian Freud’s late self-portrait (estimate: $15-25 million) and Joan Mitchell’s sunflower-hued explosion of color and gesture (estimate: $12-18 million).

The Edlis|Neeson Collection at Christie’s

More than 40 groundbreaking works of art and design from Stefan Edlis and Gael Neeson’s Chicago residence will go on the block. © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved, ARS 2025; © Robert Rauschenberg Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY and DACS, London 2025; © Estate of Tom Wesselmann/VAGA at ARS, NY and DACS, London 2025; © Jeff Koons; © Richard Prince; © Ron Mueck; Diego Giacometti © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. Photo: © Michael Tropea

Also presented as part of Christie’s 44-lot 21st Century Evening Sale on November 19, the Edlis|Neeson Collection is described by the auction house as a rare example of a carefully curated ensemble of postwar icons that together trace the evolution of modern and contemporary art. Austrian-born American collector and philanthropist Stefan Edlis and his life partner Gael Neeson began assembling their collection in the 1970s, gradually filling their landmark apartment on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile with works that James Rondeau, president and director of the Art Institute of Chicago, once called “one of the most important collections of modern and contemporary art in existence.” In 2015, the couple donated 44 works to the Art Institute, a gift the museum described as transformative. Born in Vienna in 1925, Stefan Edlis fled Nazi-occupied Austria for the U.S. in 1941 and later founded Apollo Plastics Corporation. In 1974, he met Gael Neeson, and together they began a lifelong pursuit of art collecting, mentored by Chicago collector Gerald Elliot. Their first major acquisition, Piet Mondrian’s Large Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow (1977), marked the beginning of a collection that evolved toward Pop, Conceptual and contemporary art, featuring icons like Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Cindy Sherman and Richard Prince, as well as a later generation similarly engaged with Pop and mass culture, including Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami and Ugo Rondinone.

One of the top lots is Ed Ruscha’s How Do You Do?, coming to auction amid strong market momentum for the artist following MoMA’s major retrospective last year. Part of Ruscha’s coveted mountain series, this laconic phrase floats diagonally rather than horizontally, suspended over a meticulously rendered alpine landscape, each ridge and summit bathed in deep blue light. Acquired directly from Gagosian in 2004 and shown that same year in the Aspen Art Museum’s Ed Ruscha: Mountain Paintings, the work makes its auction debut with an estimate of $5-7 million, secured by a third-party guarantee.

Another highlight is Andy Warhol’s The Last Supper (Yellow) (1986), acquired from Gagosian in 2002 and now estimated at $6-8 million, also backed by a guarantee from Christie’s. The auction house describes it as the culmination of Warhol’s career, a meditation on the dualities of mass media and mortality. Created just a month before his death and first exhibited in Milan’s Palazzo delle Stelline, directly across from Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, the series was Warhol’s way of “making Leonardo exciting again.” The work reflects his lifelong fascination with the iconography of images, their power, repetition and eventual loss of aura through mass reproduction. As more than 3,000 visitors attended the Milan show, The Last Supper came to embody Warhol’s own final self-reflection, a farewell from the artist who became as famous and as mythic as the masters he reinterpreted.

Also featured in the sale are Warhol’s Skull (estimate: $800,000-1.2 million), which will open the Evening Sale, and his Oxidation Painting (Diptych) (1978), acquired from Skarstedt Gallery in 2017 (estimate: $900,000-1.2 million, guaranteed). Other highlights include a Diego Giacometti bronze table (estimate: $3-5 million), Richard Prince’s Double Nurse (estimate: $3-5 million), and Jeff Koons’s Gazing Ball (Courbet Sleep) (estimate: $600,000-800,000), acquired from Gagosian in 2015. The sale also includes works by Cindy Sherman, George Condo, Claes Oldenburg and Tom Wesselmann, alongside two Giacometti library tables.

Perhaps the most provocative work from the collection, although not for sale, is Maurizio Cattelan’s Him (2001), which will be viewable by request during the November pre-sale exhibition, a haunting reminder of the collection’s daring and thought-provoking spirit.

The Max N. Berry Collections at Christie’s

Alberto Giacometti, Buste d’homme (Diego), conceived in 1959/cast in 1960-1961. Bronze with brown patina, height: 15.3/4 in. (40 cm.), estimate $5-8 million. Courtesy of Christie’s

Debuting in the 20th Century Evening Sale this November, the collection of connoisseur Max Berry brings to auction one of the season’s most wide-ranging and valuable encyclopedic consignments. Spanning more than 30 categories, the collection, which is expected to generate tens of millions of dollars across several years of sales, reflects Berry’s lifetime of passionate and discerning collecting, driven more by curiosity than by market fashion.

Among the top lots hitting the rostrum during the November marquee evening sale is Calder’s Acrobats (1929), a seminal wire sculpture estimated at $5-7 million. Composed of two delicately balanced figures mounted on a wooden base, the piece dates to the artist’s pivotal Paris years when he began transforming his toy-maker’s ingenuity into formal sculptural language. Acrobats is directly linked to Calder’s famed Cirque Calder (1926-31), the hand-built miniature circus that anticipated his lifelong fascination with movement and performance. Its appearance at auction coincides with the Whitney Museum’s centennial tribute “High Wire: Calder’s Circus at 100.”

Also included in the sale is Berry’s Alexander Calder Untitled (1938), a rare yellow hanging mobile estimated at $1.5-2 million. Evoking the artist’s childlike sense of wonder, the sculpture’s continuous motion, no matter how still the air, epitomizes Calder’s mastery of balance, rhythm and levity. Completing the lineup of modern masters from the collection are Giacometti’s Buste d’homme (Diego), a bronze portrait of the artist’s brother, cast and signed 2/6 with an estimate of $5-8 million, and his still life Nature morte (1938), estimated at $1.5-2 million, a testament to the artist’s existential and essential synthesis of form and psychological depth.

Additional works from Berry’s collection, including Judaica, American art and Chinese art, will be offered in stages through 2027, underscoring both the scope and scholarly depth of a lifetime spent collecting with intellect, passion and humanity. As Berry told Observer in a recent interview, his ultimate wish is that the works are enjoyed, whether by private collectors or in institutions. “It will be wonderful if a museum acquires some of them and makes them public, where they can sit alongside other objects of a similar nature to tell the story of their artistry and their times.”

The Schlumberger Collection at Sotheby’s

Claude Monet, Vue de Rouen depuis la côte Sainte-Catherine, 1892. Sotheby’s

Similarly eclectic is the Schlumberger Collection, which Sotheby’s secured for this season. It debuted in Paris during their Surrealism and Its Legacy auction, with additional lots now scheduled to appear in New York during the Modern Evening Auction on November 20 and Modern Day Auction on November 21. Further works will be in the Important Design, Fine Jewelry and Fine Books & Manuscripts sales held between November and December 2025. This singular ensemble, bridging centuries of art and design and reflecting the legacy of one of Europe’s great industrial and cultural dynasties, was founded by brothers Conrad and Marcel Schlumberger, whose pioneering work in geophysics revolutionized the energy industry. The family also became renowned for its refined patronage of the arts. That legacy continued through Marcel’s daughter, Anne Schlumberger, whose discerning eye was shaped by her lifelong engagement with Surrealism, architecture and design.

Among the works coming from the collection is Claude Monet’s Vue de Rouen, a luminous and atmospheric canvas painted at the dawn of his famed cathedral series and set to be one of the top lots in Sotheby’s Modern Evening Auction. Fresh to the block with an estimate of $3,000,000-4,000,000, this iconic Monet embodies a pure luminous atmosphere as the artist focuses on the transitory phenomenology of light and color, reaching a level of abstraction close to raw sensorial perception before any codification or formalization. The other highlight of the collection is François-Xavier Lalanne’s Hippopotame Bar (1976), a pièce unique and the first and only example the artist created in copper, serving as the prototype for his later bronze editions.

Property from the Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art at Christie’s

Claude Monet, Nymphéas. Oil on canvas, 36 1/4 x 29 in. (92 x 73.6 cm.). Christie’s

Christie’s added another major institutional consignment to its marquee sales with the Property from the Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art collection. The museum, long celebrated for its distinguished holdings of Western art, is deaccessioning eight masterpieces by some of the most significant names in Impressionism and Modernism. Presented as a dedicated group in the 20th Century Evening Sale on November 17, with further works to follow in the Impressionist & Modern Art Day Sale and the Post-War & Contemporary Art Day Sale, the offering marks a pivotal moment in the museum’s history.

For more than three decades, the works resided in Kawamura’s purpose-built museum near Tokyo, where they brought international visitors face-to-face with the great masters of modern art. Following its closure in March 2025, the institution announced plans to divest around 280 works through auctions and private sales, aiming to raise at least ¥10 billion (approximately $68 million).

Leading Christie’s 20th Century Evening Sale from the museum’s collection is Claude Monet’s Nymphéas (1907), one of the artist’s most dazzling depictions of his Giverny waterlily pond, estimated at $40-60 million. Acquired in 1970 from the Estate of Albert J. Dreitzer through Sotheby’s, the painting has been a cornerstone of Kawamura’s galleries ever since, its vertical composition capturing the pond’s luminous surface in an almost abstract symphony of reflection and light.

Other highlights include Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Jeune femme arrangeant des fleurs (estimate: $8-12 million), Marc Chagall’s Le Rêve de Paris (estimate: $4-6 million) and Henri Matisse’s Femme au chapeau bleu (estimate: $3-5 million), which will also be offered in the 20th Century Evening Sale.

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Elisa Carollo

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November 15, 2025
UBS Is Hosting a Major Exhibition of Lucian Freud Works

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Lucian Freud, Double Portrait, (1988-90). © The Lucian Freud Archive/Bridgeman Images/Courtesy UBS Art Collection

UBS, a Switzerland-based global financial services firm, is drawing from its art collection to show more than 40 works by British painter Lucian Freud. The pieces will be collectively displayed for the first time in the U.S. in Lucian Freud: Works from the UBS Art Collection, which opened yesterday (Feb. 1) at the firm’s New York gallery.

Known as one of the great portraitists of his era, Freud specialized in figurative art and is the grandson of psychoanalysis founder Sigmund Freud. The UBS show is largely dominated by his late etchings. Created by Freud using an unconventional process that involved propping up etching plates on easels, they range from still lifes and landscapes to portraits and nudes. Two of the artist’s oil paintings, his 1990 Double Portrait and 1999 Head of a Naked Girl, are also included in the exhibition.

SEE ALSO: Is Matthew Wong the 21st Century’s van Gogh?

“We are pleased to share with the public this exceptional body of work, which defies perceived norms of corporate collecting,” said Mary Rozell, global head of the UBS Art Collection, in a statement. “Like most of Freud’s oeuvre, the artworks on display are uncompromising and challenging to view, and we hope they will spark both conversation and introspection.”

Lucian Freud, Head of a Naked Girl, (1999). © The Lucian Freud Archive/Bridgeman Images/Courtesy UBS Art Collection

The free exhibition is taking place in the UBS Art Gallery, which is in the lobby of the firm’s New York headquarters on 1285 Avenue of the Americas. Opened in 2019, the gallery is home to permanent installations with work by artists like Frank Stella, Sarah Morris, Fred Eversley and Howard Hodgkin and hosts three to four annual rotating exhibitions.

In addition to its Freud works, the UBS Art Collection contains more than 30,000 contemporary pieces by artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Roy Lichtenstein, Ed Ruscha and Cindy Sherman. Having first started collecting contemporary art in the 1960s, the firm now often loans out its work to major institutions including New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and London’s National Portrait Gallery.

UBS has been managing $5.5 trillion worth of invested assets since its 2023 acquisition of Credit Suisse (CS), which had its own 10,000-piece corporate art collection. In addition to the pieces hanging in its gallery, UBS displays its art holdings across its global offices to both boost morale and impress clients. It is also affiliated with art fair behemoth Art Basel, acting as its global lead partner and co-publishing reports on the art market and collecting activity.

The UBS Art Gallery is located in the lobby of the company’s New York headquarters. Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

Financial service companies and corporate art collections

While UBS’s vast collection of contemporary art might come as a surprise, financial service companies have long been some of the most active art patrons. The modern corporate art collection as we know it was pioneered by David Rockefeller. In 1959, while serving as president of Chase Manhattan Bank, he began accumulating artwork under the “Art at Work” program. Now known as JPMorgan Chase (JPM), the company’s collection is among the most well-established of any financial services company and helped create a new way for banks to display their ability to manage wealth.

“What’s most important about our collection is not how much we’ve accumulated, but what, in the process of living with art for the past four decades, we’ve learned,” wrote William B. Harrison, Jr., then Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of JP Morgan Chase, in the forward of Art At Work: Forty Years of the JP Morgan Chase Collection.

From the Royal Bank of Canada to Spain’s CaixaBank, corporate art collections have become a globally accepted cultural phenomenon. One of the more significant holdings includes the 60,000 works owned by Bank of America (BAC), which focuses on contemporary artists and has hosted shared exhibitions with nearly 200 museums worldwide. Deutsche Bank (DB) houses much of its 57,000-piece collection in the Deutsche Bank Towers in Frankfurt, where art is arranged by region and entire floors of the 60-story towers are devoted to singular artists. And that’s not all. According to the International Art Alliance, there are more than a thousand major corporate art collections around the globe.

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Alexandra Tremayne-Pengelly

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February 2, 2024