The new global headquarters of Sotheby’s at the Breuer Building in New York debuts with a record auction, marking a turning point for the international art market.
How Sotheby’s inaugurated the Breuer with an absolute record
On Tuesday, Sotheby’s officially opened its new global headquarters in the Breuer Building in New York with an evening totaling 706 million dollars, the highest result in its 281-year history. The event confirms the auction house’s role in the highest segment of the market, in a context that in recent years showed signs of slowing down.
Driving the result was the collection of the great patron Leonard A. Lauder, who passed away in June at 92 years old. All 24 lots offered from the Lauder collection were sold, totaling 527.5 million dollars, surpassing the maximum estimate of 482.5 million.
Following this, a sale of contemporary and ultra-contemporary art reached 178.5 million dollars, fully within the presale range of 143.6 to 198.2 million.
The comparison with Christie’s and the change in market climate
The results mark a reversal from the downward trajectory of the art market observed since 2022. Just the day before, on Monday, Christie’s staged a notable auction dedicated to the 20th century, closing at 690 million dollars, led by a Mark Rothko painting at 62.5 million from the collection of Robert F. and Patricia G. Ross Weis.
“We turned a corner on Monday,” commented Jussi Pylkkänen, former star auctioneer of Christie’s, now an independent consultant. Additionally, the Lauder collection, described by him as “the best in its category,” saw lively competition typical of moments when works of extreme rarity come to market. “The market is finding its level. Am I optimistic? We should all be,” he added.
The role of Van Gogh, Munch, and Schwitters
Among the other top lots of the collection, besides the Klimt (which we discussed here), a drawing by Vincent van Gogh, Le Semeur dans un champ de blé au soleil couchant (1888), reached 9.43 million dollars, just below the minimum estimate of 10 million. Sotheby’s recalled that Lauder received it from his parents, the cosmetics magnates Estée and Joseph Lauder, in 1979.
Sankthansnatt (Midsummer Night) by Edvard Munch (1901-1903) surprised by exceeding the high estimate of 30 million, reaching 35.1 million dollars; in this case, Wong was the underbidder. According to the auction house, the work is part of the 83 percent of lots from the Lauder sale that exceeded the maximum estimate, indicating robust demand for established names.
A 1947 assemblage by Kurt Schwitters represented one of Lauder’s first purchases, then a thirty-three-year-old at his early auction experiences at Parke-Bernet on Madison Avenue in 1966. Two years earlier, Sotheby’s had acquired a controlling interest in that house, which for a long time conducted sales at 980 Madison Avenue, a few blocks from the Breuer.
The untitled work, made on a block of wood with a piece of belt and nails, remained with the collector for his entire life. “It was Leonard’s talisman, which he would never part with,” explained Emily Braun, curator of his collection. The bidding started at 80,000 dollars and quickly heated up, reaching a final result of 533,400 dollars, almost three times the high estimate of 180,000.
Why Agnes Martin and Basquiat remain sector barometers
Private dealer Philippe Ségalot acquired The Garden (1964) by Agnes Martin for 17.6 million dollars, slightly above the maximum estimate of 15 million. The painting was included in the 1992 retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art, then hosted in the Breuer Building. “Strong,” commented Ségalot about the sale. “We’re back to five years ago. How many opportunities are there to buy something like this?”
Part of the dynamism of the Lauder collection also spilled over into the multi-owner section “The Now” and the subsequent contemporary segment.
However, clear signs of strong price sensitivity emerged: collectors showed readiness to go high only for works considered truly exceptional, leaving some aggressive estimates unresolved.
Which contemporary artists convinced buyers
Buyers accepted record valuations for the canvas High Society (1997-1998) by Cecily Brown, sold for 9.8 million dollars, for the dense undergrowth of 2020 by Yu Nishimura, sold for 711,200 dollars, and for Alvorada – Música Incidental Black Bird (2020) by Antonio Obá, sold for 1.02 million dollars.
Additionally, private dealer Andrew Fabricant, seated in the front rows, pursued a large blue sponge by Yves Klein dating around 1959, ultimately acquiring it for 19.1 million dollars, above the indicative range of 14 to 18 million. The interest in these names highlights the selectivity of the high-end contemporary segment, increasingly focused on a few key artists.
Where the market showed its limits
Despite competitive tension on several lots, no paddle was raised for a 2008 landscape, with a darkly idyllic atmosphere, by Kerry James Marshall, estimated between 10 and 15 million dollars. The same fate befell Arriving Soon (1973) by Barkley L. Hendricks, with an estimate of 9-12 million.
Despite media clamor, America (2016) by Maurizio Cattelan did not surpass the estimate linked to the gold price, set at 10 million dollars. The work received only one bid and was sold for 12.1 million, including fees, to a well-known American brand, which Sotheby’s did not wish to identify.
The result indicates that an artist’s notoriety does not automatically guarantee sustained competition in the room.
What signals come from Basquiat and Asian buyers
The top lot of the contemporary section was a large 1981 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Crowns (Peso Neto), closed at 48.3 million dollars, above the maximum estimate of 45 million. According to Sotheby’s, the work was purchased by a phone client for whom Jen Hua, deputy chairman for Asia and chairman for China, was bidding.
Asian representatives of Sotheby’s remained active throughout the evening, competing for the large Klimt and Klein’s sponge. Patti Wong explained that she worked for three different Asian collectors, one for each of the three Klimts in the catalog. In her view, the available capital in the region for high-quality works remains considerable, even if not always visible from headline sales alone.
Overall, the auction at the Breuer Building reinforces the idea that the masterpiece segment, from historicized modern to major contemporary names, continues to represent a privileged refuge for global capital. However, the selectivity of buyers and missed bids indicate a more mature market, where the price must align with the artistic content and actual rarity of the works.
As expert in digital marketing, Amelia began working in the fintech sector in 2014 after writing her thesis on Bitcoin technology. Previously author for several international crypto-related magazines and CMO at Eidoo. She is now the co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Cryptonomist and Econique.
She is also a marketing teacher at Digital Coach in Milan and she published a book about NFTs for the Italian publishing house Mondadori, while she is also helping artists and company to entering in the sector. As advisor, Amelia is also involved in metaverse-related project such as The Nemesis and OVER.
