A market analysis found a bifurcated recovery in 2026, with 20th century blue-chip works setting records while contemporary works by younger artists remained sluggish. It cited Jackson Pollock's Number 7A (1948) at 181 million dollars, Constantin Brancusi's Danaide (c. 1913) at 108 million dollars, and Mark Rothko's Brown and Blacks in Reds (1957) at 85.7 million dollars, alongside Anna Weyant's Dinner (2019) at 980,400 dollars, a Willem de Kooning Milkmaid (1984) estimated at 10 million to 15 million dollars, Banksy's Girl and Balloon on Found Landscape (2012) at 18 million dollars, and a sold-out London show of new paintings by Nick Goss priced 55,000 to 65,000 pounds.
Patricia J. Leahy filed a lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court seeking restitution of Portrait of Fräulein Margarethe Lieser, a Gustav Klimt portrait that sold for $37.5 million at auction in Austria in 2024. The case centers on Nazi-era seizure claims and provenance issues related to Adolf Lieser and Margarethe Lieser’s family.
Named works and instruments (1)
Gustav Klimt — Portrait of Fräulein Margarethe Lieser — $37.5 million
Nicolas Sarazin reports that Gustav Klimt's unfinished Portrait of Fräulein Margarethe Lieser (1917) sold for $37.5 million in Vienna in April 2024, a record for Austria, but the buyer withdrew amid restitution talks. The piece describes the painting’s disappearance after Austria’s 1938 annexation, resurfacing in 2024, and a June 2026 New York lawsuit by Patricia J. Leahy against Im Kinsky and Eva Ropper over alleged restitution communication gaps and alleged tampering with the work’s title.
Named works and instruments (1)
Gustav Klimt — Portrait of Fräulein Margarethe Lieser — $37.5 million
David Hockney, one of the most celebrated and commercially valuable British artists, died at his home on 11 June 2026, aged 88, one month short of his 89th birthday. The Hollywood Reporter noted his market standing, recalling that his 1972 painting Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) sold for about 94 million dollars at auction in New York in 2018, then a record for a living artist.
Named works and instruments (1)
David Hockney — Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) — nearly £70 million ($94m)
The Art Newspaper reported strong seven-figure sales during Art Basel 2026's VIP preview, led by Pablo Picasso's Le peintre et son modele dans un paysage (1963), sold by Hauser and Wirth for USD 35 million, and a second Picasso, Satyre, Pan et nymphe (1938), at 6 million to 6.5 million dollars. David Hockney's Studio Interior #2 (2014) sold for 8.5 million dollars, with further sales of works by Cy Twombly (two works at 5 million and 2.5 million dollars), Louise Bourgeois, Pierre Soulages (Peinture 146 x 97 cm, 31 janvier 1954, above 3 million dollars), Helen Frankenthaler (Sudden Wave, 1982, 3 million dollars), Lucio Fontana, Georg Baselitz, Maria Lassnig, Lynne Drexler, Doris Salcedo, Jonas Wood, Lynda Benglis, Kenneth Noland, Yayoi Kusama, Gerhard Richter and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Wassily Kandinsky's Villa Seeburg am Staffelsee was the highest lot of the German auction season at $6.38 million, while Georg Kolbe’s Tänzerinnen-Brunnen reached record highs. The live auctions at Ketterer Kunst, Grisebach, and Lempertz in Germany totaled about €58.3 million ($67.7 million).
The Art Newspaper reported that Art Basel's new Basel Exclusive initiative, in which more than 200 exhibitors withheld key works from pre-fair digital previews, generated interest but sold mostly established artists at accessible prices. Sales named included Pablo Picasso's Homme Assis (1972) at Helly Nahmad and Satyre, Pan et nymphe (1938) at Almine Rech for 6 million to 6.5 million dollars, Philip Guston's The Courtyard (1946) at Hauser and Wirth, Elizabeth Peyton's Transmission (E, rose) (2026) at David Zwirner for 1.2 million dollars, a Nicolas Party at Xavier Hufkens for about 200,000 dollars, and a John Baldessari at Spruth Magers for 500,000 dollars.
Art Basel's flagship 2026 fair in Basel, held June 18 to 21 with 290 galleries from 43 countries and about 90,000 visitors, closed reporting strong sales. Top results included Pablo Picasso's Le peintre et son modele dans un paysage (1963) sold by Hauser and Wirth for USD 35 million, Gerhard Richter's Abstraktes Bild (940-7) (2015) for 20 million dollars, David Hockney's Studio Interior #2 (2014) for 8.5 million dollars, and Louise Bourgeois's Les Fleurs (2009) for about 2.2 million dollars, with works by Willem de Kooning and Helen Frankenthaler also reported sold.
Henri Matisse, Lydia (Étude pour 'Portrait au manteau bleu') (1935), sold for $4.97m (GBP3.75m) at Sotheby's in London on June 24, 2026, beating the previous auction result by $4.27m for an annualized return of 6%. The work was previously sold at Christie's in New York in 1996 for $700,000.
Named works and instruments (1)
Henri Matisse — Lydia (Étude pour 'Portrait au manteau bleu') — $4.97m (GBP3.75m)
The article discusses Sotheby’s London June sale led by a Modigliani valued at $63.5 million from the Lewis Collection. It also covers the combined results of the Lewis Collection sale and a Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction, totaling £393.4 million ($520.7 million) and noting strong sell-through and high-end demand.
Named works and instruments (15)
Amedeo Modigliani — Homme à la Pipe (Le Notaire de Nice) — £23.3 million ($30.7 million)
Amedeo Modigliani — Nu Assis au Collier — £48.2 million ($63.5 million)
Banksy — Love Is In The Air (life size) — £6.4 million ($8.5 million)
Claude Monet — Camille Assise sur la Plage à Trouville — passed at around £5 million
Claude Monet — Nymphéas — £40.8 million ($54 million)
Edgar Degas — Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans — £25 million ($33.1 million)
Egon Schiele — Danaë — a few thousand shy of £18 million ($23.6 million)
Gustav Klimt — Portrait of Gertrud Loew — £36.2 million ($47.6 million)
Gustave Caillebotte — Portrait de Paul Hugot — £10.2 million ($13.5 million)
Henri Matisse — Lydia (Étude pour ‘Portrait au Manteau Bleu’) — £3.75 million ($4.9 million)
Kazimir Malevich — Head of a Peasant — over £3 million ($4 million)
Mark Rothko — Untitled — £9 million ($11.9 million)
Marlow Moss — White, Yellow and Black — £1.2 million ($1.5 million)
Pablo Picasso — Buste de Femme — £23.8 million ($31.4 million)
René Magritte — La Belle Promenade — a shade over £16 million ($21.1 million)
The sale at Sotheby’s London of Joe Lewis’s collection achieved £296.3 million ($392.6 million), with 25 lots and all but one sold. The night’s top lot was Amadeo Modigliani’s Nu assis au collier (1917–18), selling for £48.2 million ($63.9 million) after a bidding battle led by Oliver Barker. Also featured was Lucian Freud’s Sleeping by the Lion Carpet (1995–96), which sold for £29.3 million ($38.8 million).
Named works and instruments (2)
Amedeo Modigliani — Nu assis au collier — £48.2 million ($63.9 million)
Lucian Freud — Sleeping by the Lion Carpet — £29.3 million ($38.8 million)
Philip Guston’s Mirror Head (1977) led the Zabludowicz Collection sale at Christie’s London, selling for £3.9 million ($5.2 million) with an estimate of £3.5–£5.5 million. The auction realized £15.4 million ($20.3 million) across 53 lots, with 7 under estimate, 28 within, and 11 above, and 44 lots remaining online through June 30. Artists mentioned include Philip Guston, Rose Wylie, and Haim Steinbach.
Named works and instruments (1)
Philip Guston — Mirror Head — £3.9 million ($5.2 million)
Degas, Monet, and Modigliani. The artworks from these artists were sold during Sotheby’s London sale, with the overall Lewis collection auction bringing in £296.3 million ($392.6 million) and the Modern and Contemporary sale adding £97.1 million ($128.1 million), totaling £393.4 million ($520.7 million). Monet’s Nymphéas sold for £40.8 million ($54 million).
Named works and instruments (3)
Amedeo Modigliani — Nu assis au collier — £48.2 million
Claude Monet — Nymphéas — £40.8 million ($54 million)
Edgar Degas — Petite danseuse de quatorze ans — £25.1 million
The article reports Sotheby's New Bond Street in London achieving £393.4 million ($520.7 million) across two back-to-back sales: the Joe Lewis Collection and the Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction. The Joe Lewis Collection realized £296.3 million ($392.6 million), a new record for a single-owner collection in Europe, with 24 of 25 lots sold and no guarantees placed on any lot. The top lot was Amedeo Modigliani's Nu assis au collier (1917–18) at about $63.9 million.
Named works and instruments (3)
Amedeo Modigliani — Nu assis au collier — approximately $63.9 million
Edgar Degas — Petite danseuse de quatorze ans — £25.1 million / $33.3 million
Lucian Freud — Sleeping by the Lion Carpet — £29.3 million ($38.8 million)
Sotheby's London sold works from the collection of financier and former Tottenham Hotspur owner Joe Lewis for 249.3 million pounds hammer, or 296.3 million pounds with fees, the most valuable single-owner collection ever sold in the UK. Top lots included Amedeo Modigliani's Nu assis au collier (1917) at 48.2 million pounds, Claude Monet's Nympheas (1907) at 40.8 million pounds, Gustav Klimt's Bildnis Gertrud Loew at 36.2 million pounds, Lucian Freud's Sleeping by the Lion Carpet at 29.3 million pounds, Egon Schiele's Danae (1909) at 17.9 million pounds, Rene Magritte's La Belle promenade at 16 million pounds, Gustave Caillebotte's portrait of Paul Hugot at 10.3 million pounds, and Pablo Picasso's Baigneuses, sirenes, femme nue et minotaure (1937) at 7 million pounds.
Named works and instruments (8)
Amedeo Modigliani — Nu assis au collier — £41.5m (£48.2m with fees)
Claude Monet — Nymphéas — £35m (£40.8m with fees)
Egon Schiele — Danaë — £15.2m (£17.9m with fees)
Gustav Klimt — Bildnis Gertrud Loew (Gertha Felsőványi) — £31m (£36.2m with fees)
Gustave Caillebotte — Portrait de Paul Hugot — £8.5m (£10.3m with fees)
Lucian Freud — Sleeping by the Lion Carpet — £25m, or £29.3m with fees
Pablo Picasso — Baigneuses, sirènes, femme nue et minotaure — £5.7m, or £7m with fees
René Magritte — La Belle promenade — £13.5m (£16m with fees)
The Lewis Collection’s $392.6m sale at Sotheby’s London on June 24 set new records for a single-owner European collection, with a total including fees of £393.4m and the top lot being Amedeo Modigliani’s Nu assis au collier sold for £48.2m. Other notable results included Gustav Klimt’s Bildnis Gertrud Loew at £36.2m and Lucian Freud’s Sleeping by the Lion Carpet at £29.3m.
Named works and instruments (3)
Amedeo Modigliani — Nu assis au collier — £48.2 million
Gustav Klimt — Bildnis Gertrud Loew — £36.2 million
Lucian Freud — Sleeping by the Lion Carpet — £29.3 million
Phillips's Modern and Contemporary art evening and afternoon sale in London totalled USD 15.71 million (GBP 11.92 million), meeting its pre-sale estimate. The top lot was David Hockney's The Only One with Waves (1991) at 3.19 million dollars, followed by Yayoi Kusama's INFINITY-NETS (MAE) (2013) at 2.04 million dollars, Jean Dubuffet's Etanche Ibitryx Monte Creme at 833,200 dollars, Donald Judd's Untitled at 697,200 dollars, and Hsiao Chin's Inner Light (1966) at 680,200 dollars.
Named works and instruments (4)
David Hockney — The Only One with Waves — $3.19m
Donald Judd — Untitled — $697,200
Jean Dubuffet — Étanche Ibitryx Monte Crème — $833,200
The article discusses Christie’s London sale of works from Anita and Poju Zabludowicz, totaling £15.4m with 89% sold by lot and 97% by value. Top lot was Philip Guston’s Mirror Head (1977) which sold for £3.9m, while several lots were withdrawn or failed to sell, including Heidi Bucher and Wade Guyton pieces.
Named works and instruments (1)
Philip Guston — Mirror Head — £3.9m (with buyer’s fees)
Freud, Modigliani and Klimt are mentioned in relation to the Lewis Collection, which Sotheby’s sold in London on June 24, 2026 as part of a multi-stage sale with preliminary tests in March and May 2026. The overall event culminated in an evening sale featuring 25 lots with a collective estimate over $200 million and a final outcome of $390.3 million.
Named works and instruments (2)
Amedeo Modigliani — Nu assis au collier — $63.5 million
Lucian Freud — Sleeping by the Lion Carpet — $38.5 million
The London sales article by Lili Göksenin reports that Sotheby’s London sales, led by the Lewis Collection and the Modern & Contemporary Evening and Day Auctions, achieved the highest season total in Europe, with the Lewis Collection alone realizing £306.6 million ($406.2 million) and the combined total with Modern & Contemporary Day Auctions reaching £420.5 million ($556.5 million). Key highlights include Gustave Caillebotte’s Portrait de Paul Hugot selling for £10.3 million, Amedeo Modigliani’s Nu assis au collier selling for £48.2 million, and Lucian Freud’s Sleeping by the lion carpet selling for £29.3 million.
Named works and instruments (12)
Amedeo Modigliani — Nu assis au collier — £48.2 million ($63.9 million)
Banksy — Love Is In The Air (Life Size) — £6.4 million ($8.5 million)
Claude Monet — Nymphéas — £40.8 million ($54 million)
David Hockney — The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East — £512,000 ($676,045)
George Condo — Zombie Modernism — £832,000 ($1,098,573)
Gustav Klimt — Bildnis Gertrud Loew (Gertha Felsőványi) — £36.2 million ($47.9 million)
Gustave Caillebotte — Portrait de Paul Hugot — £10.3 million ($13.6 million)
Henri Matisse — Paysage — £576,00 ($760,550)
Lucian Freud — Sleeping by the Lion Carpet — £29.3 million ($38.8 million)
Lucio Fontana — Concetto spaziale — £358,400 ($473,231)
Mark Rothko — Untitled — £9 million ($12 million)
Pablo Picasso — Portrait of Dora Maar — £1.3 million ($1.7 million)
A Sotheby’s evening sale from the Lewis Collection, led by Amedeo Modigliani’s Seated Nude with Necklace (1917–18), helped push London’s June auctions to a high level, with the combined night total reaching £393.4m and the Lewis sale alone totaling £296.3m. The sale included works by Modigliani, Picasso, Degas, Magritte, and Matisse, and was described as a standout for a single-owner collection.
Degas, Monet, Modigliani, Magritte, Freud, and Klimt works featured in Sotheby’s London sale from Joe Lewis’s collection earned £296.3 million ($392.6 million); the Modern and Contemporary Art evening sale added £97.1 million, for a total of £393.4 million ($520.7 million). Top lots included Modigliani’s Nu assis au collier, Monet’s Nymphéas, and Klimt’s Bildnis Gertrud Loew.
Named works and instruments (3)
Amedeo Modigliani — Nu assis au collier — £48.2 million
Claude Monet — Nymphéas — £40.8 million
Gustav Klimt — Bildnis Gertrud Loew — £36.2 million
The Art Newspaper argues that record June and May 2026 auction results have not fixed the broader art market's structural problems, with the top end disconnected from struggling galleries. It cites Sotheby's two-part June modern and contemporary sale in London totalling 393.4 million pounds with fees, the highest ever for a single night of auctions in Europe, its Joe Lewis collection sale at 296.3 million pounds, and Christie's S.I. Newhouse sale at 630.8 million dollars, referencing record lots by Jackson Pollock (Number 7A, 181.2 million dollars), Constantin Brancusi (Danaide, 107.6 million dollars) and Mark Rothko (No. 15, 98.4 million dollars).
Named works and instruments (4)
Constantin Brancusi — Danae — $107.6m
Jackson Pollock — Number 7A — $181.2m
Mark Rothko — No. 15 (Two Greens and Red Stripe) — $98.4m
Pablo Picasso — The Painter and His Model in a Landscape — $35m
David Hockney’s The Only One with Waves (1991) sold for £2.4 million ($3.2 million) at Phillips London, above its low estimate. The sale total, including fees, was £12 million ($15.8 million), with 76 of 90 lots sold (84% sell-through). Other notable results included Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity-Nets (MAE) at £1.5 million and Andrew Cranston’s Meditation in a Tenement at £65,000, among works by Dubuffet, Judd, Hsiao Chin, and Jadé Fadojutimi.
Named works and instruments (2)
David Hockney — The Only One with Waves — £2.4 million ($3.2 million)
Yayoi Kusama — INFINITY-NETS (MAE) — £1.5 million ($2 million)
Christie’s Old Masters Evening Sale in London, a 40-lot sale, totaled £38.9 million ($51.4 million) with 96 percent by value and 90 percent by lot sold. The night’s top lot was Jan van Huysum’s still life, which sold for £6.52 million ($8.65 million); other highlighted works included Sir Thomas Lawrence’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington, and two Jan van Huysum still lifes. Several notable works were passed or withdrawn, underscoring selective bidding.
Named works and instruments (3)
Canaletto — Venice, San Giorgio Maggiore from the Bacino di San Marco
Dutch School, 17th Century — Two skulls with a quill and paper on a marble ledge — £431,800 (more than $572,500)
Gustav Klimt — Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer — $236.4 million
Sir Thomas Lawrence; Jan van Huysum; Rubens. Portrait of the Duke of Wellington; Egyptian Limestone Pair Statue; Fruit and flowers in a wicker basket; Flowers in a terracotta vase; Aeneas helping Dido from her horse. £9,670,000/ $12,764,400/ €11,217,200 (Lawrence portrait); £3,710,000/ $4,897,200/ €4,303,600 (Egyptian Limestone Pair Statue); £6,516,000/ $8,601,120/ €7,558,560 (Fruit and flowers in a wicker basket); £5,540,000/ $7,312,800/ €6,426,400 (Flowers in a terracotta vase); £2,734,000/ $3,608,880/ €3,171,440 (Aeneas helping Dido from her horse).
Phillips details PHILLIPS ANNOUNCES HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE JULY MODERN & CONTEMPORARY ART SALE IN NEW YORK, including the artists, works, estimates, and sale context documented in the release.
Christie’s examines Pre-Raphaelite and Symbolist art from the Albert Zuckerman Collection and its significance for artists, collectors, institutions, or the art market.
The Netherlands and Germany announced plans to return more than 2,000 cultural objects taken from Ghana during colonial conquest. Dutch officials handed Ghana a catalogue of 2,000 objects, while Germany separately identified war drums and horns for restitution.
Christie’s examines Explore Vienna's MuseumsQuartier as it marks 25 years and its significance for artists, collectors, institutions, or the art market.
Dealers at Art Basel reported heightened activity in David Hockney's work after his death, including an $8.5 million studio painting sold to a US collection. Annely Juda also offered a 2025 flower painting for $12 million as demand for Hockney editions rose sharply.
Christie’s examines ANNIE WALLINGTON APPOINTED HEAD OF MODERN ART, LONDON and its significance for artists, collectors, institutions, or the art market.
The Royal Ontario Museum acquired the Widad Kawar Collection of Arab Dress and Heritage Arts, comprising almost 600 garments and cultural objects from across the Arab world. The acquisition combines charitable support with a partial gift from the Kawar family.
Christie’s examines The Exceptional Sale: from an Old Kingdom Egyptian statue to a first edition of Wuthering Heights and its significance for artists, collectors, institutions, or the art market.
Christie’s reports on First dedicated sale of its kind at Christie's London since 2019 'Sublime Shadows: South Asian Art From a Distinguished Collection' Totals £18,909,996. Its source account states that the sale, the first dedicated offering of its kind in London since 2019, comprised 93 works from a single private collection formed over the 1990s and early 2000s, with a focus on the artistic legacy of Bengal and the development of modern South Asian visual culture.
Christie’s examines PHILLIPS UNVEILS HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE MODERN & CONTEMPORARY ART EVENING & AFTERNOON SALE and its significance for artists, collectors, institutions, or the art market.
Phillips details PHILLIPS ANNOUNCES HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE NEW YORK EDITIONS & WORKS ON PAPER AUCTION, including the artists, works, estimates, and sale context documented in the release.
Phillips details PHILLIPS’ SALES OF THE COLLECTION OF AMBASSADOR JOHN L. LOEB, JR. ACHIEVE $18 MILLION ACROSS GLOBAL AUCTION SERIES, including the artists, works, estimates, and sale context documented in the release.