Sotheby’s posted strong results over its marquee spring sales in New York to bolster conviction in the art market recovery thesis which has gained traction since the fall of last year. The auction house pulled in approximately $733 million (all prices include fees), an improvement over last year’s equivalent sales by over 96 percent. The performance was underpinned by eleven major consignments, including two magnificent Rothkos from the estate of late art dealer Robert Mnuchin.
Sotheby’s spring marquee series unfolded across two evenings. The May 14, 2026, session comprised a triple-header featuring the Robert Mnuchin: Collector at Heart Evening Auction followed by The Now & Contemporary Evening Auctions. It was followed on May 19 by the Modern Evening Sale, which had its best results since 2022.
The opening night generated $166 million from the Mnuchin sale and $266 million from The Now & Contemporary Evening Auction, for a combined total of roughly $432 million. The Modern Evening Sale added $304 million. Across both evenings, pricing remained heavily concentrated at the apex, with a small number of blue-chip works by Rothko, Basquiat and Matisse driving a disproportionate share of turnover.
Sotheby’s Oliver Barker on the rostrum with Rothko’s Brown and Blacks in Reds on May 14, 2026. Image: Sotheby’s
Mnuchin Estate Collection Validated by the Market
The Robert Mnuchin sale opened as a tightly concentrated estate sale of artworks belonging to the former Wall Street trader who died in December at the age of 92. All eleven lots carried either house or third-party guarantees, which resulted in a highly predictable “white glove” outcome as all of the works were underwritten.
The focal point of the Mnuchin collection was Mark Rothko’s Brown and Blacks in Reds (1957), which achieved $85.8 million against a pre-sale estimate of $70 – $100 million. The work belongs to Rothko’s “classic” period of the 1950s, defined by large-scale chromatic fields in which softened rectangular forms appear suspended within unstable atmospheric structures. It was installed in the lobby of the Seagram Building in Manhattan after acquisition by Joseph E. Seagram & Sons.
A second Rothko, No. 1 (1949), realized $20.8 million to come in just above its presale high estimate of $20 million. Executed in the immediate postwar period, the work corresponds to Rothko’s transitional phase in which residual figurative and biomorphic elements give way to an increasingly autonomous language of large-scale abstraction. Its extensive exhibition history included presentation at Betty Parsons Gallery in 1950 and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum retrospective of 1978–79.
Other notable results from the Mnuchin collection include Willem de Kooning’s Untitled XLII (1983) which achieved $12.41 million after hammering within its $9 – $12 million estimate band, Franz Kline’s Harleman (1960), which reached $14.48 million, in line with expectations, and Jeff Koons’ stainless steel sculpture Louis XIV (1986) which sold for $8.57 million.
Basquiat’s Museum Security Enters Top-Five
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Museum Security (Broadway Meltdown), acrylic, oilstick and collage on canvas, 213.4 by 213.4 cm. Executed in 1983. Image: Sotheby’s.
