Art auction market report: February 2026
In February 2026, ArtSell recorded 8,889 auction lots from 41 auction houses, of which 6,673 sold (75% sell-through). The 6,649 sales with a published price total $37,852,699, with a median of $1,194 (USD at the sale-date rate). The top sale was José Rizal, “El Filibusterismo”, at $436,037 (León Gallery). 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 | Andy Warhol American | $952,914 | 38 | Molly — $412,800 |
| 2 | Alex Katz American | $443,929 | 15 | Ada — $129,000 |
| 3 | Sam Gilliam American | $427,635 | 4 | Dew — $412,800 |
| 4 | Alice Baber American | $393,400 | 2 | Ladder over and under — $387,000 |
| 5 | Sean Scully American | $356,881 | 7 | 4.22.98 — $335,400 |
| 6 | Julian Schnabel American | $248,564 | 5 | Portrait of Mario Diacono — $129,000 |
| 7 | David Smith American | $242,440 | 2 | Untitled — $232,200 |
| 8 | Ed Ruscha American | $237,905 | 19 | Cheese Mold Standard with Olive (E. 31) — $109,650 |
| 9 | Judy Kensley McKie American | $224,790 | 2 | Panther coffee table — $184,150 |
| 10 | Thomas Hart Benton American | $209,420 | 52 | Wreck of the Ol’ 97 — $9,250 |
Top European artists
| # | Artist | Total sold | Priced sales | Top result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joan Miró Spanish | $457,369 | 41 | L'Equinoxe — $54,400 |
| 2 | Nicolae Grigorescu Romanian | $402,084 | 2 | Car cu boi, pe cale de dimineață — $201,042 |
| 3 | Fernando Zóbel de Ayala y Montojo Spanish | $288,615 | 4 | Ensayo para Un Tema — $114,200 |
| 4 | Manolo Valdés Spanish | $283,800 | 1 | Reina Mariana — $283,800 |
| 5 | Gerhard Richter German | $247,935 | 3 | 4.4.88 — $167,700 |
| 6 | Per Kirkeby Danish | $202,620 | 2 | VINTER-OJNE (Winter Eyes) — $153,600 |
| 7 | Pablo Picasso Spanish | $200,961 | 29 | Scenă de coridă — $33,113 |
| 8 | Victor Brauner Romanian | $193,627 | 4 | La relation — $177,390 |
| 9 | David Bates British | $174,697 | 2 | Fall Fire — $174,150 |
| 10 | Marc Chagall Belarusian | $156,468 | 19 | LES FLEURS ROUGE (The Red Flowers) — $24,320 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Gilliam | Dew Phillips | $412,800 | $371,700 (192 earlier) |
| Alice Baber | Ladder over and under Phillips | $387,000 | $170,800 (18 earlier) |
| George E. Ohr | Vase Rago Auctions | $120,650 | $81,250 (511 earlier) |
| Lucas Samaras | Untitled Bonhams | $114,800 | $48,640 (34 earlier) |
| Donald Baechler | Flowers (Round Vase) Phillips | $83,850 | $62,500 (194 earlier) |
| Philip de László | nee Caroline Lowe Patterson (D.L.A.T.no. 111977) Brunk Auctions | $80,000 | $25,313 (6 earlier) |
| Hugo McCloud | Untitled Phillips | $77,400 | $76,200 (20 earlier) |
| Alessandro Twombly | Poseidon’s Revenge Phillips | $77,400 | $48,260 (5 earlier) |
| Callum Innes | Exposed Painting Dioxazine Violet Phillips | $70,950 | $66,294 (62 earlier) |
| Chana Orloff | Amazone Bonhams | $70,350 | $56,700 (8 earlier) |
| Karl Priebe | Lady at Table (with Painting by Gertrude Abercrombie) Toomey & Co. | $69,850 | $9,525 (21 earlier) |
| Miguel Canals | Still life of pears, birds and foliage Bonhams | $58,935 | $17,530 (11 earlier) |
| Maarten van Severen | LL04 chaise lounge Wright | $57,150 | $26,250 (10 earlier) |
| Tony Matelli | Stray Dog Phillips | $52,890 | $30,240 (10 earlier) |
| Cundo Bermúdez | Untitled Bonhams | $46,080 | $44,450 (13 earlier) |
Auction houses this month
Bonhams (977)Artmark (652)Phillips (600)Strauss & Co (530)Wright (446)Hagelstam (443)Rago Auctions (438)Art+Object (407)Morton Subastas (395)Pandolfini (301)Pananti (254)Morgan O'Driscoll (246)Toomey & Co. (213)Capitolium Art (205)Dunbar Sloane (184)Colasanti Casa d'Aste (180)Brunk Auctions (176)Lyon & Turnbull (172)DuMouchelles (171)deVeres (171)Anderson & Garland (160)Palm Beach Modern Auctions (156)Leonard Joel (153)León Gallery (129)Abell Auction Company (122)Clarke Auction Gallery (115)Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA) (106)Bertolami Fine Art (95)Toovey's (92)Sopocki Dom Aukcyjny (90)Farsettiarte (85)Austin Auction Gallery (77)Ketterer Kunst (73)Agra-Art (52)Elstob & Elstob (51)Circle Auction (48)Lawrences Auctioneers (45)Sloans & Kenyon (38)Hessink's Auctions (20)Sworders (18)Vogt Auction (3)