Sotheby’s CEO expects strong demand ahead of $1.4 billion art auctions

Autumn auction sales in New York next week are expected to reach $1.4 billion, up 50% from last year and marking a potential recovery after three years of decline in the art market, according to art experts.

A star-studded collection of famous works, from a $150 million Gustav Klimt portrait to a multimillion-dollar gold toilet, will headline auctions at Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips next week. The sales, often the most important week of the year for the art market, followed stronger-than-expected results from recent sales in Paris and London and could restore confidence in the art market.

Dealers and auction managers said the improvement was due to stronger demand as well as better supply. Falling interest rates, rising stock prices and trillions of dollars wealth creation It has been increasing the confidence of wealthy buyers in both public and private markets in recent months.

At the same time, a parade of ultra-rare masterpieces is beginning to cross the auction block as sellers become more confident in prices and bids.

“We’ve seen very strong demand in the art market all year,” said Sotheby’s CEO Charles Stewart. “Whether it’s per-lot bidders or our tractors, our demand levels are breaking records [prices] based on our low estimate or sales rates. However, recently we see that supply meets demand. “Something has definitely changed in the last two months.”

The biggest names of the week come from the estates of Leonard Lauder, billionaire heir to Estée Lauder Companies, and Jay and Cindy Pritzker of the Pritzker real estate dynasty. Sotheby’s is selling 55 works from the Lauder collection for a total of more than $400 million. The works include Klimt’s colorful “Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer,” estimated at over $150 million, as well as two Klimt landscapes, one estimated at over $70 million and the other at over $80 million. There are also six bronze statues of Matisse and one of Edvard Munch’s famous “Midsummer Night” paintings.

The Pritzker collection includes 37 works estimated to be worth over $120 million; these include a Van Gogh still life estimated at over $40 million.

Christie‘There are numerous sought-after works estimated to be worth between $40 million and $60 million, including Monet’s “Nymphéas” water lily painting and David Hockney’s “Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy.” He is also offering Mark Rothko’s “No. 31 (Yellow Ribbon)” for more than $50 million.

“I think next week we will be deeply relieved that the worst is over,” senior arts consultant Andrew Fabricant said. “The mood is better, and given the quality of what they have, I think they’ll do well. You don’t need 20 years of art history to understand the appeal of Klimt paintings.”

Sotheby’s will benefit in part from the opening last week of its new global headquarters in the famous Breuer Building in Manhattan. Considered a masterpiece of brutalist architecture and strategically located on the Madison Avenue luxury shopping corridor, the building is already packed with crowds, with more than 10,000 people visiting the exhibit as of Wednesday. Buzz and visibility underpin Sotheby’s strategy to attract new collectors and educate the next generation of bidders about art and culture.

“This is a hugely important moment for us,” Stewart said of the building’s opening. “I think some of our shippers [sellers] And we were excited about the opportunity.”

Still, after three years of declines in auction sales, some dealers and art experts wonder whether next week’s rebound will be permanent. While legacy collectors are disappearing from the auction scene, a new generation of buyers and collectors are showing different priorities and tastes.

While older collectors often seek status rewards and “wall power” from established artists, younger collectors gravitate towards emerging artists and lower-priced works. The generational divide has led to two distinct art markets: a declining multimillion-dollar high-end art market and a vibrant, lower-priced market that attracts younger collectors.

Sales of works priced above $10 million fell 44% in the first half of the year compared to 2024 and were down 72% from the post-pandemic peak in 2022. Bank of America Private Bank “Art Market Update”No works sold at auction for more than $50 million in the first half of this year, compared with 13 sales at this price point during the same period in 2022.

In 2024, dealers with sales under $250,000 reported a 17% increase in sales, while this rate was 9% for dealers in the more than $10 million segment.

“As mature collectors age, the next group may arrive with different motivations or tastes,” said Drew Watson, head of art services at Bank of America. “A lot of the older generation of collectors over the past 30 years — hedge fund managers, private equity investors — are getting to a point where they’re not as focused on accumulation and they’re more focused on succession and transition.”

Watson said declines in auction market totals, driven largely by weakness at the top end, have cast a shadow over a booming gallery and art fair scene filled with young collectors buying and learning about new artists. Young collectors are more interested in connecting directly with artists rather than buying on the secondary market or at auctions.

“Collecting as a lifestyle seems to be on the rise,” he said. “Art fairs are packed.”

Next week’s sale will also include a work that has already sparked a global debate about wealth and art. Sotheby’s will sell at auction the solid gold toilet “America” ​​by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, who also created the famous duct-taped banana titled “Comedian.” Sold for $6.2 million at Sotheby’s.

“America” ​​is one of two toilets that Cattelan made from 100 kilograms (about 220 pounds) of 18-carat solid gold. A version was exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2016, where it was installed in a bathroom and drew long lines of visitors.

It was later exhibited at Blenheim Palace in England, where it was stolen and thought to have been melted down for gold.

The second one, which was the sold work, went to a private collector. New York Times reported He said the seller was hedge fund billionaire and New York Mets owner Steve Cohen.

Although Sotheby’s has not given a sales estimate for “America,” the gold itself would be worth about $13 million at today’s prices, which have increased over the past year.

Stewart said “America,” like “The Comedian,” is a true cultural phenomenon.

“What I liked about the banana last year was that it sparked debate,” he said. “Everywhere I’ve gone around the world, whatever it was, people had a point of view on it, and it led to a very heated debate. I think ‘America’ will be the same, because there are so many different themes of the work that are fascinating – whether it’s the object itself, whether it’s the title, whether it’s the gold, whether it’s the art historical references. When you put it all together, it’s something incredibly exciting.”

Many dealers and art experts take a different perspective, saying “America” ​​is pure spectacle rather than art, with little to say about serious collectors or artists.

“This is a headline-grabbing grab that has nothing to do with art,” Fabricant said.