Christie's, Sotheby's, Phillips Drive $2.5 Billion Auction Rebound as Pollock Hits $181.2 Million
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · May 25
Christie's, Sotheby's, Phillips Drive $2.5 Billion Auction Rebound as Pollock Hits $181.2 Million
4 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 25
$2.5 billion in art sold across the May auctions at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips, nearly doubling the $1.3 billion from the equivalent sales last year.
A seven-minute bidding war pushed a Jackson Pollock to a record $181.2 million, while multiple works beat high estimates and some set new auction records.
More than $1 billion came from estates including S.I. Newhouse Jr., Robert Mnuchin and Agnes Gund, giving the houses the high-quality supply they had lacked.
The firms also cut risk with heavy promotion and prearranged bidder deals, aiming to avoid the kind of overestimated flops that hurt recent seasons.
After four years of weak demand tied to conflict, economic instability and thin supply, the results suggest a healthier but more disciplined top-end art market.
As blue-chip art prices break records, is the contemporary art market now a bargain or a trap?
With blockbuster estates fueling the art market's revival, what happens when these collections eventually run out?