NEW YORK— Christie’s Spring Marquee Week—Monday, May 12 through Thursday, May 15, 2025 in Rockefeller Center—generated a total of $693 million, 123% over low estimate, surpassing the auction house’s totals from the previous two Marquee Weeks.

“Going into this week, we were confident that we had the strongest material of the season, priced right,” said Bonnie Brennan, Christie’s CEO. “We had demand from our clients who trust us, and a team of the world’s best specialists to build our sales. We are pleased with our results, and that this season’s total surpassed both our 2024 Marquee Weeks. We are seeing supply unlock, and with this strong May in the books, we are optimistic about the balance of 2025.”

Lots were sold across the six evening and day sales:

• May 12 | Leonard & Louise Riggio: Collected Works - $272M with 22% lots sold over high estimate

• May 12 | 20th Century Evening Sale - $217M with 40% lots sold over high estimate

• May 13 | Impressionist and Modern Works on Paper - $9.8M, 60% lots sold over high estimate

• May 13 | Impressionist and Modern Art Day Sale May 13 - $31.3 million, 61% lots sold over high estimate

• May 14 | 21st Century Evening Sale - $96.5M, 44% lots sold over high estimate

• May 15 | Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale -  $66.5M, 50% lots sold over high estimate

The sales saw spirited bidding in the room, on the phones and online throughout each of the four days, with a sell-through rate of 88% sold by lot, and multiple artist records realized. Marlene Dumas’ Miss January established a new record for living female artists to sell at auction at $13.6 million in the 21st Century Evening Sale, with additional records set for Simone Leigh, Emma McIntyre, and Louis Fratino during the night. The 20th Century Evening Sale set records for Dorothea Tanning, Remedios Varo, for Monet’s famed Poplars series, and for a work on paper by Franz Von Stuck. The top lot sold during the week was a 1922 Mondrian painting from the Riggio sale, sold for $47.6 million.

As of today, Christie’s has sold the top 8 works of the season, and 9 of the top 10.  The week in total was defined by success not exclusively at the top end, but across all price bands in the market, in both the Evening Sales and the Day Sales. In Tuesday’s Impressionist and Modern Art Day Sale, Matisse’s Henriette, robe jaune saw strong demand, with nine engaged bidders. It exceeded its estimate of $300,000 – 500,000 to achieve a final price of $1.4 million. Today in the Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale, an oil painting by Mark Tansey experienced exceptionally deep bidding, with participants eagerly vying for Study for “The Enunciation.” The work sold for $3.2 million – more than 10 times its low estimate.  

“We have an incredible team in place to land collections, price them properly, and sell them more successfully than anyone else,” said Alex Rotter, Christie’s Global President. “We take our responsibility to the market and to our clients seriously. Our job is to find buyers for as many lots as possible in our sales. and with fresh and unique material to work with, we took every opportunity to deliver. I’m proud of the team, I’m pleased for the market, and I’m very optimistic for the future. As long there is art people will want to own it.”

The week was framed by three great collections which demonstrated how the most highly distinguished collectors live with art in their homes. The week’s defining collection was Leonard & Louise Riggio: Collected Works, a selection from the Riggios, deeply generous patrons of the arts, which opened the week in a single-owner sale achieving $272 million—the only collection to realize this total in the last 18 months. The week of sales also showcased works hailing from the renowned Bass House in Fort Worth, Texas, a masterpiece of architecture designed by Paul Rudolph. In total, Art from the Bass House achieved $74.1 million. The third tentpole collection was the grouping: For Art’s Sake: Selected Works by Tiqui Atencio & Ago Demirdjian, an array of contemporary works foregrounding the 21st Century Evening Sale and the Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale that represent the finest names in the market, which sold for $29.2 million in total.

“What we are seeing is an emphasis on individual taste amongst collectors,” said Rotter. “The market is no longer about following the crowd. It’s about individual taste and passions. What art makes you feel. That is a very interesting and exciting development for the market, and for Christie's, which has a deep team of specialists in a variety of areas to offer and advise collectors with what they want to buy. Expertise and experience is in my opinion even more important in a cautious market that's why our results are particularly strong.”

Records

21st Century Evening Sale

• Marlene Dumas, Miss January; $13,635,000

• Simone Leigh, Sentinel IV; $5,737,000

• Louis Fratino, You and Your Things; $756,000

• Emma McIntyre, Up bubbles her amorous breath; $201,600
  
  

20th Century Evening Sale

• Claude Monet, Peupliers au bord de l’Epte, crépuscule for the Peupliers series; $42,960,000

• Remedios Varo, Revelación (also titled El relojero); $6,221,000

• Dorothea Tanning, Endgame; $2,349,000

• Franz Von Stuck, Die Sünde for a work on paper; $604,800

(Press Release)