Art auction market report: October 2025
In October 2025, ArtSell recorded 12,439 auction lots from 47 auction houses, of which 9,967 sold (80% sell-through). The 9,750 sales with a published price total $87,983,015, with a median of $1,409 (USD at the sale-date rate). The top sale was Jean-Michel Basquiat, “Untitled (Pestus)”, at $3,187,570 (Phillips). 15 artists set a new high compared with every earlier result in the database.
Top sales
Top American artists
Ranked by total of priced sales in the month; region from the artist’s recorded nationality.
| # | Artist | Total sold | Priced sales | Top result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Irving Penn American | $4,879,050 | 68 | Ginkgo Leaves, New York — $567,600 |
| 2 | Andy Warhol American | $3,417,884 | 72 | Moonwalk (see F. & S. IIB.404-405) — $516,000 |
| 3 | Jean-Michel Basquiat American | $3,292,272 | 4 | Untitled (Pestus) — $3,187,570 |
| 4 | Sean Scully American | $1,317,338 | 7 | Wall of Light Summer Night 5.10 — $1,299,062 |
| 5 | Robert Rauschenberg American | $982,241 | 14 | Gospel Yodel (Salvage Series) — $952,646 |
| 6 | Robert Indiana American | $747,281 | 13 | Love-Blue-Green — $658,535 |
| 7 | Keith Haring American | $714,616 | 10 | Dog — $335,400 |
| 8 | Derek Fordjour American | $710,154 | 1 | Regatta Pattern Study — $710,154 |
| 9 | Isamu Noguchi American | $668,172 | 13 | Enigma (Who Knows) — $495,300 |
| 10 | Christo American | $661,029 | 14 | Surrounded Islands (Project for Biscayne Bay, Greater Miami, Florida) — $311,937 |
Top European artists
| # | Artist | Total sold | Priced sales | Top result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Flora Yukhnovich British | $1,713,285 | 1 | My Body knows Un-Heard of Songs — $1,713,285 |
| 2 | Jacek Malczewski Polish | $1,514,151 | 3 | Autoportret z pędzlem w dłoni — $1,151,920 |
| 3 | Jan Matejko Polish | $1,394,061 | 3 | Portret Marii Matejko — $1,328,096 |
| 4 | Tadeusz Kantor Polish | $1,296,147 | 4 | Emballage VI, 1967 (Personnage emballé, Ambalaż ludzki) — $1,165,472 |
| 5 | Anish Kapoor British | $952,736 | 2 | Mirror (Organic Green to Dark Purple) — $779,437 |
| 6 | Bernar Venet French | $921,587 | 4 | 222.5° Arc x 13 — $692,833 |
| 7 | Pierre Soulages French | $890,481 | 4 | Peinture 202 x 143 cm, 14 août 2015 — $866,042 |
| 8 | Roman Opałka Polish | $867,328 | 1 | Opałka 1965 / 1 - ∞, Detal 4390477 - 4415658 — $867,328 |
| 9 | David Hockney British | $830,180 | 32 | The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011 (twenty eleven) - 1 January, 2011 — $279,900 |
| 10 | Damien Hirst British | $697,011 | 14 | Calcium Hydroxide — $554,267 |
New artist records
The artist’s best price this month exceeded every earlier priced result for them in the ArtSell database (artists with at least three earlier priced results).
| Artist | Work | Price | Previous high |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tadeusz Kantor | Emballage VI, 1967 (Personnage emballé, Ambalaż ludzki) Polswiss Art | $1,165,472 | $561,650 (172 earlier) |
| Robert Rauschenberg | Gospel Yodel (Salvage Series) Phillips | $952,646 | $631,778 (833 earlier) |
| Irving Penn | Ginkgo Leaves, New York Phillips | $567,600 | $355,600 (230 earlier) |
| Mario Schifano | WHEN I REMEMBER GIACOMO BALLA, NEW YORK CITY (DITTICO) Capitolium Art | $440,332 | $209,867 (203 earlier) |
| George Nakashima | Exceptional Conoid dining table Wright | $355,600 | $250,313 (1253 earlier) |
| Sakti Burman | Serenade Phillips | $346,597 | $150,000 (3 earlier) |
| Steven Shearer | Synthist Phillips | $346,417 | $69,103 (4 earlier) |
| Josef Koudelka | Gypsies Phillips | $283,800 | $40,000 (37 earlier) |
| Cedric Morris | THE BLUE POPPY, 1932 Lyon & Turnbull | $264,580 | $222,437 (11 earlier) |
| Frederick Hammersley | Either Or Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA) | $241,300 | $200,000 (71 earlier) |
| James Sharples | Portrait of George Washington Brunk Auctions | $210,000 | $20,075 (7 earlier) |
| Carla Accardi | Grigio (Ideogramma) Phillips | $173,299 | $132,761 (47 earlier) |
| Ion Țuculescu | Cei ce se plimbă Artmark | $139,284 | $107,247 (60 earlier) |
| George Rouy | The Shape of Absence Phillips | $138,639 | $113,250 (15 earlier) |
| Tomás Saraceno | Superstring Phillips | $138,639 | $72,592 (19 earlier) |
Auction houses this month
Lyon & Turnbull (1,226)Bonhams (1,152)Phillips (986)Strauss & Co (765)Artmark (694)Wright (549)Rago Auctions (521)Sworders (483)Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA) (438)Toomey & Co. (430)Morton Subastas (410)Twents Veilinghuis (366)DuMouchelles (365)Whyte's (275)León Gallery (265)Pandolfini (234)Van Ham (220)Sloans & Kenyon (210)Pananti (209)Agra-Art (197)Sopocki Dom Aukcyjny (197)Brunk Auctions (196)Art+Object (195)Davidson Auctions (184)Anderson & Garland (166)Morgan O'Driscoll (155)Abell Auction Company (138)Circle Auction (134)Capitolium Art (123)Vogt Auction (122)Austin Auction Gallery (105)Clarke Auction Gallery (105)im Kinsky (95)Bogotá Auctions (91)Olympia Auctions (84)Polswiss Art (77)Leonard Joel (63)Maison Bibelot (54)Elstob & Elstob (42)Lawrences Auctioneers (41)Grisebach (21)Chorley's (18)HAUS Galerii (18)Ketterer Kunst (10)Farsettiarte (8)Sheffield Auction Gallery (1)Colasanti Casa d'Aste (1)