Sotheby’s ended its biggest May auctions in New York with a total of $186.1 million from three evening sales, which came just days after the week started off poorly, when a $70 million bronze sculpture by Alberto Giacometti failed to sell. The unsold lot naturally raised concerns, but the mood changed by Thursday night. The auction house recovered strongly with help from well-known collections owned by Barbara Gladstone and Daniella Luxembourg, along with strong prices for several contemporary artworks.
Key Takeaways
- Sotheby’s earned $186.1M from three sales, with high sell-through rates and minimal flops.
- Collectors strongly favored blue-chip works and provenance-backed collections, especially from Barbara Gladstone and Daniella Luxembourg.
- Young and emerging artists set new records, suggesting a lively undercurrent in the lower price tiers of the market.
Barbara Gladstone’s Estate Sale Starts the Night
The evening began with 12 works from the estate of Barbara Gladstone, a well-known gallerist who passed away in 2024. None of these works had sales guarantees, which means they were sold without any financial safety net. But luckily, the art didn’t need it, as every one of the 12 pieces sold, bringing in a total of $18.5 million, just above the high estimate of $17.2 million.
Among the notable results, Richard Prince’s Man Crazy Nurse (2002–2003) sold for just under $4 million, including fees, though this fell well short of the $12.1 million record for his “Nurse” series set in Hong Kong in 2021. Another Prince work, Are You Kidding (1988), did better than expected, reaching $3.5 million after steady bidding.
Andy Warhol’s rare black-and-green version of Flowers (1964) was another key piece. Estimated at $1.5 million, it sold for $3.8 million after competitive bidding. Carroll Dunham’s Bathers Seventeen (Black Hole) (2011–2012) set a new record for the artist at $762,000. Raymond Pettibon’s group of seven drawings opened at $40,000 and finished at $241,300, showing strong demand.
This first section of the evening totaled $15.1 million before fees and marked a strong start, showing that buyers were responding to quality works, even without guarantees.
Daniella Luxembourg’s Italian Collection Follows With Strong Sales
After Gladstone’s lots, Sotheby’s offered 15 works from the private collection of Daniella Luxembourg. All the pieces were guaranteed, and most had additional irrevocable bids, meaning the auction house had buyers lined up no matter what. All artworks were sold, which made this another “white-glove” sale—a term used when every item in a group is sold. The total for this section of the auction reached $40.4 million.
This group focused on Italian postwar art. Lucio Fontana’s sculpture Concetto spaziale (1962–1963) was the opening lot and drew five bidders before selling for $764,000, well above its $180,000 high estimate. Another Fontana piece, the large glitter-covered painting La fine di Dio (1963), sold for $14.5 million, placing it in the middle of its $12 million–$18 million estimate.
Michelangelo Pistoletto’s mirror painting Maria Nuda (1969) sparked one of the night’s most intense bidding battles. Eight bidders competed before it sold for $2.75 million ($3.4 million with fees), more than double its $1.5 million high estimate.
Other works also beat expectations. Pino Pascali’s sculpture, estimated between $400,000 and $600,000, ended at $1.64 million. Claes Oldenburg’s soft sculpture sold for $1.94 million, above its $1.5 million estimate. Alberto Burri’s Cretto from 1976 brought $3.1 million, with no published estimate.
Two Alexander Calder mobiles also sold well. Armada (1946), estimated at $5 million, reached $5.4 million, while The Beetle (1948) brought $4.2 million, slightly above its $4 million estimate.
The Main Sale Brings Basquiat, Lichtenstein, and New Artist Records
The final and largest part of the evening was Sotheby’s Now and Contemporary Evening Auction. After three withdrawals, the sale included 41 lots. It reached $127.1 million, with a 93% sell-through rate.
The highest price of the night came from Jean-Michel Basquiat’s untitled 1981 drawing. The piece had been in one collection for 30 years. It was estimated at $10 million, but after a long bidding war, it sold for $13.7 million ($16.4 million with fees).
Sotheby’s also sold nine works by Roy Lichtenstein. These works, which included paintings, drawings, and sculptures, brought in a combined $29 million. Reflections: Art (1988) sold for $5.4 million, Bonsai Tree (1993) more than doubled its $1.5 million low estimate and sold for $4.2 million, and other Lichtenstein pieces performed within expected ranges.
Among other leading names, Ed Ruscha’s 1989 painting That Was Then, This Is Now hammered at $7 million and sold for $8 million with fees. Gerhard Richter’s 1990 abstract painting reached $6.9 million, just under its $7 million high estimate.
Andy Warhol’s Flowers again appeared, selling for $4.1 million, more than double its $1.5 million high estimate. However, not all top lots succeeded. Frank Stella’s 1964 work Adelante, which was deaccessioned from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, only reached $6.5 million against a $10 million low estimate.
Two works, one by Urs Fischer and another by Cecily Brown, failed to sell. The final lot of the night, a 1958 painting by Jacob Lawrence, also did not find a buyer.
Young Artists Hit New Records
The sale also showed that people are still very interested in new and rising artists. Danielle McKinney’s Stand Still (2023) sold for $279,400, more than five times its $40,000 estimate. Yu Nishimura’s Across the Place (2023) set a new record at $406,000, well above the previous high of $296,000.
Ernst Yohji Jäger’s untitled painting from 2021 sold for $190,500, more than doubling his prior record of $73,000. Michael Armitage’s 2015 painting sold for $2.4 million, within its $2 million–$3 million estimate range. Mohammed Sami’s painting also did well, selling for $571,000, above its $300,000 low estimate.
Rashid Johnson’s Two Standing Broken Men (2018) brought in $1.8 million, passing its $1.2 million estimate. Barbara Kruger’s 1989 text piece sold for $787,400, close to its $800,000 high estimate. Jack Whitten’s painting landed at $1.1 million.
Sotheby’s A Rebound After Early Disappointment
Earlier in the week, Sotheby’s had a major setback when a 1955 Alberto Giacometti bronze bust, estimated at $70 million, failed to sell. It had been shown at the 1956 Venice Biennale and came from the estate of real estate mogul Sheldon Solow. The bidding only reached $64 million before the lot was pulled.
Despite that, Sotheby’s ended its May auctions on a high note. The total from the three-part sale on May 15 came to $186.1 million, based on 68 lots. This was a 61% increase from the equivalent auction last fall, which brought in $112 million. It was still below the $227.9 million result from spring 2023, showing that the market has cooled but remains steady.
According to Sotheby’s executive Lucius Elliott, two-thirds of the evening’s bidders were American, including buyers of European-focused works, like those in the Luxembourg collection. He viewed this as a strong sign of buyer interest, especially given the current challenges in the economy.
