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September 2025 fine-art market intelligence

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Fine art

Unicorn collection from the Weis family heads to Christie’s with expected total over $180 million

theartnewspaper.com

Pablo Picasso’s La lecture (Marie-Thérèse) (1932), Mark Rothko’s No. 31 (Yellow Stripe) (1958), and Henri Matisse’s Figure et bouquet (Tête ocre) (1937) are among 80 works from the Weis family that Christie’s will auction in November, with the collection anticipated to fetch more than $180 million.

Fine art

Basquiats linked to 1MDB scandal auctioned by US government

artnews.com

Jean-Michel Basquiat's Self Portrait (1982) sold for $8,332,500 and Red Man One (1982) for $22,002,790 in an online US Marshals Service auction. Pablo Picasso's Tête de taureau et broc (1939) fetched $5,007,502 and Diane Arbus's Child with a Toy Hand Grenade sold for $500,150. The sale, conducted by Gaston and Sheehan in Pflugerville, Texas, netted about $36 million in total.

Fine art

Sotheby’s reports a $248 million pre-tax loss and other art industry news

news.artnet.com

Sotheby’s reported a 2024 pre-tax loss of $248 million, more than double its 2023 loss, with revenue from commissions and fees down 18%. Elaine Wynn’s art collection, valued at over $75 million, will be auctioned at Christie’s in New York in November, featuring works by Richard Diebenkorn and Joan Mitchell. Christie’s closed its digital art department and cut ties with Nicole Sales Giles. Chef Daniel Humm will curate Sotheby’s Contemporary Curated auction in New York on September 26.

Fine art

Sotheby’s secures $120m Pritzker and $400m Lauder collections, with works by Matisse, Munch and Van Gogh

theartnewspaper.com

Sotheby’s has secured two major private collections for its autumn New York sales: the Jay and Cindy Pritzker collection, estimated to bring in around $120m, and the Leonard Lauder collection, estimated to sell for around $400m. The Lauder trove includes works by Gustav Klimt, Henri Matisse, Edvard Munch and Agnes Martin, with Klimt’s Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (1914–16) estimated over $150m and other works estimated at $80m–$100m and $70m–$90m respectively; Vincent van Gogh’s Romans Parisiens (Les Livres jaunes) (1887) leads the Pritzker portion at an estimated $40m.

Fine art

$120 million Pritzker Collection goes to Sotheby’s, led by a luminous Van Gogh

news.artnet.com

Vincent van Gogh, Romans Parisiens (Les Livres jaunes) (1887) is highlighted in the sale led by a $40 million Van Gogh, with works by Max Beckmann, Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse, and Joan Miró. The collection is valued at up to $120 million and will be offered at Sotheby’s marquee Impressionist and Modern sale at its new Madison Avenue location.

Fine art

What Sotheby’s $136 million Karpidas sale reveals about the market

news.artnet.com

René Magritte’s La Statue Volante (1958) is noted as part of Sotheby’s Pauline Karpidas sale in London, which yielded around $100 million across 55 lots and achieved a 100 percent guarantee-backed, white-glove result with strong bidding. The report discusses Surrealism demand and the overall healthy activity in this major fall sale, including high sell-through and women bidders accounting for about a quarter of bidders.

Fine art

This Gustav Klimt portrait set to smash auction records and its backstory

news.artnet.com

Gustav Klimt, Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (1914–16). The painting is expected to sell for as much as $150 million at Sotheby’s New York. The work comes from the collection of Leonard Lauder and is part of the events surrounding Sotheby’s New York flagship opening; it was previously loaned to the National Gallery of Canada and the Neue Galerie for Klimt exhibitions.

Fine art

Christie’s to sell works from Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art including Monet and Renoir

artnews.com

Christie’s will consign works from the Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art, including Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, and Henry Moore, with Monet’s Nymphéas (1907) highlighted at a low estimate of $40 million; other works include Chagall’s Le songe du Roi David (1966) and Le soleil rouge (1949) and Renoir’s Baigneuse (1891).

Fine art

Pauline Karpidas sale at Sotheby’s goes beyond estimates, brings $100M

art-insider.com

Pauline Karpidas auction at Sotheby’s fetched $100 million with a white glove status. The sale of 55 items from Pauline Karpidas’ collection included works by René Magritte, Andy Warhol, and Claude LaLanne, with several pieces selling for well above estimates; Magritte’s Tête sold for $1.2 million, Warhol’s The Scream (After Munch) for $9 million, and LaLanne works totaling $18.5 million. The auction overall exceeded expectations and achieved a 100% sell-through rate by the end of the night.

Fine art

Christie’s New York to present property from the Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art collection

press.christies.com

Artist(s) mentioned include Claude Monet. Artwork referenced: Nymphéas, oil on canvas, 36¼ x 29 in. (92 x 73.6 cm.), painted in 1907. The sale/collection is Property from the Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art, with works by Monet, Renoir, Chagall, Matisse, Moore among others; price not stated.

Fine art

Jewish collector heirs pursue Nazi-loot claim to Van Gogh Sunflowers painting

collectorcanvas.co.uk

The heirs of Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy sue Sompo Holdings over Van Gogh’s Sunflowers (1888-89), seeking restitution valued at $250 million; the case cites Nazi-era forced sale and provenance issues, with appeals ongoing in the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. The painting is housed at the Sompo Museum of Art in Tokyo and is one of three Sunflower canvases from 1888-89.

Fine art

yves klein blue painting christies paris

codex.vasari.art

Christie’s in Paris has secured Yves Klein’s California (IKB 71), a 1961 work measuring 14 feet wide with an estimate of €16–25 million ($18–29 million) for its October 23 sale. The painting, the largest Klein IKB format, has a newly uncovered provenance tracing from Virginia Dwan in Los Angeles to Leo Castelli in New York before returning to Paris, and it has been in a New York collection since 2005 with a long loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 2005 to 2008.

Fine art

Christie’s presents Yves Klein’s California, (IKB 71) - press release

press.christies.com

Yves Klein’s California, (IKB 71), 1961, is highlighted as the leading work in Christie's autumn season in Paris. The work is described as the largest monochrome by Klein in private hands and is set to be offered at auction for the first time during Christie's Avant-Garde(s) including Thinking Italian sale in Paris on 23 October. The press release notes the work’s measurements, medium, and its significance within Klein’s exploration of International Klein Blue. Christie's previously sold Anthropométrie de l'époque bleue, (ANT 124), for £27.2 million in London on 28 June 2022.

Fine art

Picasso record at Christie’s HK; solid totals for Sotheby’s, Phillips

observer.com

Pablo Picasso’s Buste de femme (1944) sold for HK$197 million at Christie’s Hong Kong, setting an Asia auction record. In the same week, Christie’s total for the 20th/21st Century Evening Sale was HK$565,649,000 ($73,038,183); Phillips achieved HK$160 million ($20.5 million) and Sotheby’s HK$335,701,000 ($43,040,000) for their evening sales.

Fine art

Masterworks from Leonard Lauder Collection, including a $150 million Klimt, head to Sotheby’s

an-art.com

Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (1914–16) from Leonard Lauder’s collection is valued at more than $150 million and leads Sotheby’s November sale in New York. The sale also includes two Klimt landscapes and works by Henri Matisse, Edvard Munch, and Agnes Martin among a total of 55 pieces from Lauder’s holdings.

Fine art

PHILLIPS’ MODERN & CONTEMPORARY ART EVENING SALE IN HONG KONG ACHIEVES HK$160 Million/ US$20.5 Million

Phillips

Christie’s examines PHILLIPS’ MODERN & CONTEMPORARY ART EVENING SALE IN HONG KONG ACHIEVES HK$160 Million/ US$20.5 Million and its significance for artists, collectors, institutions, or the art market.

Fine art

How Fondation Opale became a haven for Indigenous Australian artists

Christie’s

Christie’s examines How Fondation Opale became a haven for Indigenous Australian artists and its significance for artists, collectors, institutions, or the art market.

Fine art

Suzanne Valadon, feminist artist of the Parisian avant-garde

Christie’s

Christie’s examines Suzanne Valadon, feminist artist of the Parisian avant-garde and its significance for artists, collectors, institutions, or the art market.

Fine art

Christie's specialist's Post-War to Present highlights | Christie’s

Christie’s

Christie’s examines Christie's specialist's Post-War to Present highlights and its significance for artists, collectors, institutions, or the art market.

Fine art

Explore the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw | Christie's

Christie’s

Christie’s examines Explore the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw and its significance for artists, collectors, institutions, or the art market.

Fine art

Arp, Dubuffet, Kandisky from curator & collector Daniel Abadie

Christie’s

Christie’s examines Arp, Dubuffet, Kandisky from curator & collector Daniel Abadie and its significance for artists, collectors, institutions, or the art market.

Fine Art

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