Art auction market report: November 2025
In November 2025, ArtSell recorded 14,346 auction lots from 60 auction houses, of which 10,522 sold (73% sell-through). The 10,224 sales with a published price total $207,706,396, with a median of $1,624 (USD at the sale-date rate). The top sale was Francis Bacon, “Study for Head of Isabel Rawsthorne and George Dyer”, at $16,015,000 (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 | Joan Mitchell American | $14,322,036 | 3 | Untitled — $14,290,000 |
| 2 | Jean-Michel Basquiat American | $5,099,430 | 3 | Exercise — $3,852,000 |
| 3 | Mark Tansey American | $4,645,000 | 1 | Revelever — $4,645,000 |
| 4 | Jackson Pollock American | $3,486,000 | 1 | Untitled — $3,486,000 |
| 5 | Andy Warhol American | $3,424,097 | 24 | Marilyn Monroe (Marilyn) — $1,514,000 |
| 6 | Wayne Thiebaud American | $2,392,640 | 3 | River Sides — $2,359,500 |
| 7 | Jeff Koons American | $2,375,848 | 7 | Balloon Venus Dolni Vestonice (Magenta) — $1,350,000 |
| 8 | Ruth Asawa American | $1,909,200 | 2 | Untitled (S.230, Hanging Single-Lobed, Five-Layered Continuous Form within a Form) — $1,006,200 |
| 9 | Yves Tanguy French | $1,790,220 | 2 | Je tourne la tête vers moi (I Turn My Head Toward Myself) — $1,778,700 |
| 10 | Max Ernst German | $1,535,092 | 2 | Dans les rues d'Athènes — $1,534,000 |
Top European artists
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joan Mitchell | Untitled Phillips | $14,290,000 | $11,870,000 (84 earlier) |
| Yves Tanguy | Je tourne la tête vers moi (I Turn My Head Toward Myself) Bonhams | $1,778,700 | $416,661 (19 earlier) |
| Georg Kolbe | Stehende Frau Grisebach | $1,641,041 | $731,618 (143 earlier) |
| Emil Filla | The Reader Galerie Kodl | $1,550,016 | $1,425,600 (138 earlier) |
| Max Ernst | Dans les rues d'Athènes Phillips | $1,534,000 | $862,938 (655 earlier) |
| Paula Modersohn-Becker | Selbstbildnis nach halblinks Grisebach | $1,471,422 | $713,580 (120 earlier) |
| Josef Čapek | Harlot / Two Children Galerie Kodl | $1,463,904 | $781,380 (57 earlier) |
| Félix González-Torres | "Untitled" (Last Light) Bonhams | $826,000 | $674,402 (34 earlier) |
| Firelei Báez | Daughter of Revolutions Phillips | $645,000 | $381,000 (10 earlier) |
| Alice Neel | Fanya Bonhams | $635,500 | $102,400 (65 earlier) |
| Walton Ford | Chingado Bonhams | $597,400 | $126,375 (26 earlier) |
| Susan Rothenberg | Mares and Foals Bonhams | $597,400 | $201,600 (39 earlier) |
| Mark Ryden | Pinkie (#154) Phillips | $593,400 | $52,500 (44 earlier) |
| David Smith | Forging V Phillips | $580,500 | $471,000 (60 earlier) |
| Adolf Loos | Rare longcase clock Phillips | $539,323 | $158,500 (21 earlier) |
Auction houses this month
Bonhams (1,177)Rago Auctions (901)Artmark (726)Auktionshaus Mehlis (702)Wright (663)Phillips (538)Bertolami Fine Art (468)Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA) (442)Toomey & Co. (419)deVeres (414)Morton Subastas (411)Grisebach (398)Strauss & Co (364)Maison Bibelot (358)Pandolfini (353)Schmidt Kunstauktionen Dresden (347)Levis Fine Art Auctions (309)Van Ham (307)Morgan O'Driscoll (271)Farsettiarte (265)Blindarte (249)Lempertz (235)Davidson Auctions (235)DuMouchelles (224)Helmuth Stone Gallery (210)Galerie Kodl (201)OstLicht Photo Auction (200)Colasanti Casa d'Aste (181)Brunk Auctions (177)Crocker Farm (168)Sopocki Dom Aukcyjny (163)Sworders (160)Dunbar Sloane (147)Toovey's (133)Palm Beach Modern Auctions (130)Van Sabben Poster Auctions (123)Ravenel (115)Capitolium Art (114)Abell Auction Company (110)HAUS Galerii (110)Menzies (101)Austin Auction Gallery (97)Art+Object (89)Anderson & Garland (87)Clarke Auction Gallery (82)Bogotá Auctions (81)Gormley's Art Auctions (75)Cottone Auctions (72)Elstob & Elstob (64)Smith & Singer (60)Ketterer Kunst (54)Art Auction East Africa (52)Grev Wedels Plass Auksjoner (46)Bolsa de Arte (46)Vogt Auction (43)Leonard Joel (37)Olympia Auctions (14)Haynault (13)Hessink's Auctions (11)Sloans & Kenyon (4)