Auctioneer Oliver Barker took to the rostrum at our new headquarters at the Breuer, kicking off The New York Sales in front of Mark Rothko’s sublime ‘Brown and Blacks in Reds.’ Last night we hosted two auctions at #SothebysNewYork, Robert Mnuchin: Collector at Heart and The Now & Contemporary Evening Auction, presented in partnership with @celine .
Mnuchin’s collection of contemporary treasures achieved $166.3 million, with 100% of lots sold. Mark Rothko’s rare canvas ‘Brown and Blacks in Reds’ from 1957 was the star of the night, reaching $85.8 million. The collection also featured three Willem de Kooning paintings, each from a different decade of his career, which sold for a combined $27.2 million.
The night continued with The Now & Contemporary Evening Auction, totaling $266.8 million. Monumental paintings from Jean-Michel Basquiat and de Kooning led the group, with records set for a series by Andy Warhol and Ed Ruscha. Kenneth Noland, Ding Shilun, and Joseph Yaeger also broke auction records.
Read more about the sales at Sothebys.com linked in bio.
Five floors of Modern and Contemporary masterpieces are on view for a limited time at #SothebysNewYork. Visit our 945 Madison Avenue galleries to see works from the most celebrated figures in art history ahead of The New York Sales, presented in partnership with @celine .
Highlights include renowned collections from Robert Mnuchin, David and Shoshanna Wingate, and Adele and Enrico Donati.
Plan your visit to our new headquarters at the historic Breuer via the link in our bio. And don’t miss a seating at @marcelnyc , now open for lunch service.
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Mon–Sat | 10:00AM–5:00PM
Sun | 1:00PM–5:00PM
Applause filled the Sotheby’s saleroom as Mark Rothko’s rare masterpiece ‘Brown and Blacks in Red’ sold for $85.8 million from the Robert Mnuchin: Collector at Heart Evening Auction.
Standing nearly 8 feet tall, this monumental canvas is one of only 12 large-scale paintings Rothko made in 1957. It was first owned by Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc., who then commissioned the historic Seagram Murals. ‘Brown and Blacks in Reds’ marks a historic accomplishment, conjuring the language of feeling that no artist has ever dared to replicate since.
The New York Sales continue tonight with The Now & Contemporary Evening Auction. Watch on Sothebys.com at the link in bio.
With this painting, Matisse captures the Mediterranean sunlight and saves it for us. The radiant ‘La Séance du matin’ is one of the most important works from Matisse’s Nice period.
Here, Specialist Scott Niichel explores this compelling, hopeful canvas. After arriving in Nice at the end of the war, Matisse is so struck by the light and beauty of his new surroundings that his singular pursuit becomes depicting that light in paint. ‘La Séance du matin’ highlights a radical synthesis of light, color and space that defined Matisse’s Nice period.
This painting will star in The Modern Evening Auction, presented in partnership with @celine , on 19 May. Plan your visit to the exhibition, closing 18 May, at the link in bio.
When you look at any Giacometti sculpture, two elements remain the same: his figures are extremely tall and extremely thin. Here, Sotheby’s Edith Eustis explains why.
She examines ‘La Clairière,’ a Giacometti bronze that features nine forms standing in a glade. This sculpture shows the artist’s desire to capture what it means to encounter someone or something, and the thin figures seem almost like flickers of people appearing in the distance. He’s stripping them back as much as possible in order to find their essence.
‘La Clairiere’ is a highlight of A New Vista: The David and Shoshanna Wingate Collection. It’ll head to auction on 19 May, presented in partnership with @celine . Register to bid at the link in bio.
Welcome to Ozymandias: Myths of the Near Future, the new exhibition now on view at #SothebysHongKong. It’s a Mad Max-esque world where meaning is forged in the wake of collapse.
In Ozymandias, the distressed, salvaged garments of Greg Lauren enter into dialogue with the spectral portraits of Eugène Carrière, Émile-Antoine Bourdelle and Georges Dorignac, alongside fragmentary heads from Ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt. Here, beauty is no longer pristine; it is weathered, patinated, and scarred.
The exhibition draws inspiration from Percy Bysshe Shelley’s vision of ruin and the beauty of imperfection in his 1818 sonnet Ozymandias, and J. G. Ballard’s proposition that dystopian catastrophe does not end culture, but remakes it.
Open 15 May - 5 June inside the Sotheby’s Maison in Hong Kong. Plan your visit at the link in our bio.
The most valuable wine bottle in the world is actually empty. Here, Sotheby’s Scott Niichel shows us ‘Femme-bouteille,’ a rare example of Magritte’s painted wine bottles that is on view at #SothebysNewYork.
Painted in 1955, it’s one of a small number of known works Magritte made on bottles. It depicts a nude woman whose form takes the dimension of the very bottle upon which she is painted. The result is a challenged notion of perception, playing on Surrealist themes of blurring the line between object, image, and the body.
‘Femme-bouteille’ is stars in The Collection of Sybil Shainwald, a group of Modern masterpieces unified by their engagement with the female figure. The Modern Evening Auction, presented in partnership with @celine, will take place 19 May. Register to bid at the link in bio.
Six bidders battled for Andy Warhol’s portrait of Hollywood star Brigitte Bardot in the Sotheby’s saleroom. The painting set a new auction record for Warhol’s series of the actress, achieving $24.8 million in tonight’s Now & Contemporary Evening Auction, presented in partnership with @celine .
The striking portrait is one of eight Warhol created of the actress, commissioned by her husband Gunter Sachs. Here, Bardot’s radiant emerald face captivates you with a profound hypnotic intensity. It’s an ode to beauty and celebrity, and it masterfully captures the essence of a 1960s icon.
The New York Sales continue tomorrow with The Contemporary Day Auction. Register to bid at the link in bio.
Helen Frankenthaler’s ‘Cape Orange’ set off a thrilling bidding battle at #SothebysNewYork in tonight’s Now & Contemporary Evening Auction, presented in partnership with @celine .
After five minutes of bidding, this 10-foot-tall masterwork achieved $7.3 million. It was created at the height of the artist's pioneering role within Color Field painting and unfolds as a radiant chromatic field. It’s now the second highest price for a Frankenthaler work. Sotheby’s holds the record auction with her 1975 painting ‘Royal Fireworks’ sold in 2020.
The New York Sales continue tomorrow with The Contemporary Day Auction. Register to bid at the link in bio.
Auctioneer Oliver Barker receives white gloves after the sold-out evening sale for Robert Mnuchin: Collector at Heart. With 100% of lots sold, the auction achieved $166 million at #SothebysNewYork tonight.
The offering showcases Mnuchin’s inimitable eye and lifelong passion for collecting. Led by Mark Rothko’s monumental ‘Brown and Blacks in Reds,’ a rare masterpiece from a pivotal year in his career. Other abstract expressionist highlights came from Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline.
The New York Sales continue next week with The Modern Evening Auction on 19 May. Register to bid at the link in bio.
From Alexander Calder’s circa 1945 stabile dancing in space to Andy Warhol’s mechanical repetition in ‘Flowers,’ each work from Radiant Forms: Works from a Distinguished Private Collection marks a shift in how form is understood and perceived.
These 23 works come to auction at #SothebysNewYork, bringing together artists across generations who challenged what art could be. Swipe to learn more about highlights from the collection.
Radiant Forms will star in The Contemporary Day Sale, presented in partnership with @celine , on 15 May. Register to bid at the link in bio.
A thoughtful group of contemporary masterworks crosses the auction block on 15 May at #SothebysNewYork. The Saul and Ellyn Dennison Collection reflects a lifelong passion for collecting, united by an enduring belief in experimentation and artistic risk.
The collection brings together paintings, works on paper, and conceptual objects acquired over 40 years. Highlights include a monumental work on paper from Richard Serra’s celebrated paintstick series, a preparatory work by Mark Tansey, and a rare puzzle work from Félix Gonzáles-Torres.
This collection stars in The Contemporary Day Auction, presented in partnership with @celine , on 15 May. Register to bid at the link in bio.
