Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips in Hong Kong combined to $164.9 million in modern and contemporary evening sales, up 18 percent from 2025. Christie’s led with HK$655.7 million (about $83.8 million) in its 20th/21st Century Evening Sale, Sotheby’s followed with HK$548.4 million ($70.3 million), and Phillips contributed HK$88.5 million ($11.3 million). The results are framed as a sign of resilience and cautious optimism for the regional art market amid global uncertainties.
A French court ordered the restitution of the 1918 Modigliani painting Seated Man with a Cane to the heir of its original Jewish owner. The work, looted by the Nazis in 1944 and later held by a holding company controlled by art dealer David Nahmad until it was auctioned in 1996, marks an 11-year legal battle and a victory for Holocaust restitution efforts.
Joan Mitchell’s La Grande Vallée VII sold for HK$129 million (US$17 million) at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, setting an Asian auction record for the artist. The work, a large-scale piece from a series of 21 executed in 1983–84, is described as a summit of Mitchell’s late career with noted psychological complexity and painterly confidence.
A New York State Supreme Court ordered the restitution of Amedeo Modigliani's Seated Man with a Cane (1918) to the heirs of Oscar Stettiner, a Jewish art dealer who fled Paris in 1939, ending an 11 year court battle. The court found the work was unlawfully seized during the Nazi occupation and later sold without Stettiner's consent, and that the painting had been purchased at auction in 1996 by International Art Center, a holding company associated with dealer David Nahmad, on provenance the court characterized as flawed. No sale amount was stated.
A judge ruled that collector and dealer David Nahmad must return Amedeo Modigliani's Seated Man With a Cane (1918) to the heirs of Oscar Stettiner. Stettiner’s grandson, Philippe Maestracci, has pursued restitution for 17 years after the Nazi occupation forced Stettiner to flee Paris in 1939. The painting was valued at as much as $25 million and is currently owned by David Nahmad.
Joan Mitchell, La Grande Vallée VII (1983) sold for $16.5m with fees at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, leading its evening sale on March 29 and setting a new auction record for a female artist in Asia. Kim Lim, Relief Sculpture (1995) sold for $229,000 with fees, establishing a new auction record for the artist. Sotheby’s Hong Kong’s modern and contemporary auctions in late March totaled about $89m with a B- performance on the HENI Auction Index.
Poly Auction Hong Kong held its modern and contemporary art sale on 6 April, where 46 of 69 lots sold for a total of about HK$76.4 million (around US$9.8 million). Liu Wei's You Like Pork? led at HK$27.6 million (US$3.5 million), while Zao Wou-Ki's 15.07.67 sold for HK$12 million and Wu Dayu's Rhymes of Beijing Opera made HK$11.16 million.
The article discusses David Zwirner gallery opening The Great Unseen Collection, featuring works from Joel and Carole Bernstein’s private holdings, in Chelsea with pieces available for purchase. It notes the Bernstein collection’s quiet provenance and the sale-friendly presentation, contrasted with Christie’s and Sotheby’s May auction cycle. It also cites market data from 2025, including Gerhard Richter prices and the Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report, to contextualize the collection’s entry into the primary market.
Tamar Sebok/Paris reports on France leading efforts to trace and return stolen works from Holocaust-era looting, with some pieces recovered only in recent years. The article discusses complex restitution cases, missing records, disputed ownership, and long legal battles over losses.
Phillips held its Modern and Contemporary Art auction in London on April 16, with the sale totalling 4.46 million dollars (3.29 million pounds), meeting the pre-sale estimate. A Banksy work titled Picasso (2009) took the top price at 349,800 dollars, and sculptures by Banksy and Antony Gormley were among the lots that sold above their low estimate.
The Monet work Vétheuil, effet du matin, painted in 1901, sold for $12.1 million (10.2 million euros) at Sotheby’s in Paris, setting a new record for Monet sold at auction in France. The sale also included Les Îles de Port-Villez, which hammered down for $7.6 million (6.5 million euros) after a lengthy bidding battle.
Sotheby's reported that its Paris sales totalled 54.4 million dollars, more than a third of it from two long-unseen Claude Monet landscapes. Vetheuil, effet du matin (1901) sold for 12.01 million dollars and Les Iles de Port-Villez (1883) fetched 7.6 million dollars, both with fees, leading the evening sale on April 16.
Christie's held five sales in Paris on April 15 to 16 that totalled 92.3 million dollars. Claude Lalanne's La Pomme de New York sold for 7.1 million dollars with fees and set an auction record for the artist, while a Paul Cezanne portrait of Madame Cezanne made 4.66 million dollars and a 1890 Vincent van Gogh sketch fetched 1.43 million dollars.
A unique ensemble of fifteen custom mirrors made by Claude Lalanne for Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge's Salon de Musique between 1974 and 1985 sold at Sotheby's for 33.5 million dollars, setting a new auction record for the artist. The bronze and copper mirrors were reported as the most valuable design work to sell at auction.
A Manhattan federal jury awarded more than 102 million dollars in damages to the Morgan Art Foundation, Robert Indiana's former business partner, on April 23. The jury found publisher Michael McKenzie liable for making and selling unauthorized works based on Robert Indiana's iconic LOVE motif, in a case that may end a long running dispute over the late Pop artist's legacy.
Erwin Bankowski, 50, and Karolina Bankowska, 26, pleaded guilty in federal court to a scheme that defrauded New York auction houses and galleries of at least 2 million dollars by selling more than 200 counterfeit works. Prosecutors said the forgeries, made in Poland, were falsely attributed to artists including Banksy, Andy Warhol, Andrew Wyeth, Richard Mayhew, Raimonds Staprans, and Fritz Scholder.
Georg Baselitz, the German painter and sculptor known for turning his figurative subjects upside down, died on April 30 at the age of 88. He was described as one of the most consequential German painters of the post-war era.
Christie’s examines Masterpieces from the Private Collection of S.I. Newhouse and its significance for artists, collectors, institutions, or the art market.
Sotheby’s reports on Sotheby's Unveils The Saul and Ellyn Dennison Collection, coming to New York this May | Press Release. Its source account states that sotheby's Unveils The Saul and Ellyn Dennison Collection, coming to New York this May | Press Release | Sotheby’s.
Christie’s examines Marian Goodman’s personal collection of Gerhard Richters and its significance for artists, collectors, institutions, or the art market.
Christie’s examines PHILLIPS REVEALS EARLY HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE MAY MODERN & CONTEMPORARY ART MARQUEE SALES and its significance for artists, collectors, institutions, or the art market.
Marc Restellini published a six-volume catalogue raisonné of Amedeo Modigliani's oil paintings after nearly 30 years of research. The project authenticates 100 additional works, removes 15 for insufficient evidence or lack of access, and lists 421 oils plus three addenda.
Christie’s examines How Irving Penn ‘changed the way people saw the world’ and its significance for artists, collectors, institutions, or the art market.
Phillips details PHILLIPS ANNOUNCES HIGHLIGHTS FROM SPRING EDITIONS & WORKS ON PAPER AUCTIONS, including the artists, works, estimates, and sale context documented in the release.
The Art Institute of Chicago acquired The Dugout, its first painting by Norman Rockwell, as a gift from Bruce and Diana Rauner. The 1948 oil is Rockwell's largest and most elaborate study for one of his Saturday Evening Post covers.
Christie’s reports on Anime Arrives at Christie's Innovative Sale Totals: $1,442,466. Its source account states that nEW YORK- The first Christie's auction focused on the popular Japanese art forms of anime, manga, and movie posters made a big statement today, soaring 407 percent times its low estimate, with 90 percent of the lots sold.