ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Christie's New York Sales Total $689.8M, Led by Rothko and Monet

market-auction · 2026-04-26

Christie's marquee week in New York commenced on November 17, 2025, with two auctions held at Rockefeller Center, generating a remarkable $689,795,000—an increase of 40% compared to May 2025. The sales saw 96% of lots sold and 97% by value. The Ross Weis collection alone brought in $218 million, highlighted by Mark Rothko's No. 31 (Yellow Stripe) fetching $62,160,000 and Pablo Picasso's La Lecture at $45,485,000. The 20th Century Evening Sale contributed $471,728,000, achieving a 98% lot sale rate and 100% by value, with significant pieces like Claude Monet's Nymphéas at $45,485,000 and a double portrait by David Hockney exceeding $44 million. The overall projected value for the week is between $1.7 and $2.3 billion. Sotheby's will present the Lauder Collection on November 18.

Key facts

  • Christie's November Marquee Week began November 17, 2025, at Rockefeller Center in New York.
  • Two auctions totaled $689,795,000, up 40% from May 2025.
  • The Collection of Robert F. and Patricia G. Ross Weis achieved $218 million.
  • Mark Rothko's No. 31 (Yellow Stripe) sold for $62,160,000.
  • Claude Monet's Nymphéas (1907) from the Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum sold for $45,485,000.
  • David Hockney's double portrait sold for over $44 million, returning after 40 years.
  • John Singer Sargent's Gondolier's Siesta set a record for a work on paper at $7,395,000.
  • Leonor Fini's Dans la tour set a new auction record at $2,515,000.

Entities

Artists

  • Mark Rothko
  • Pablo Picasso
  • Henri Matisse
  • Piet Mondrian
  • Joan Miró
  • Giorgio Morandi
  • Max Ernst
  • Franz Kline
  • Claude Monet
  • David Hockney
  • John Singer Sargent
  • Leonor Fini
  • Marc Chagall
  • Henry Moore
  • Alexander Calder
  • Isamu Noguchi

Institutions

  • Christie's
  • Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art
  • Sotheby's
  • Musée d'Orsay
  • Metropolitan Museum of Art
  • Artribune

Locations

  • New York
  • United States
  • Rockefeller Center
  • Japan

Sources