Sotheby's $389.3 M. Contemporary Art Sale Led By $85.8 M. Rothko

Sotheby's began the May auction season in Manhattan with a pair of evening sales that delivered strong results without the kind of frenzy that often defines marquee week. At the house's Madison Avenue headquarters, 11 works from the estate of Robert Mnuchin and Adriana sold for $166.3 million with fees, led by Mark Rothko's Brown and Blacks in Reds (1957), which brought $85.8 million with fees and became the second-most expensive Rothko ever sold publicly at auction.

The Rothko, a seven-foot-plus canvas from 1957, had been estimated at $70 million to $100 million. It had once belonged to Joseph E. Seagram and was acquired by Mnuchin at Christie's New York in 2003 for $6.7 million. On Monday night, it hammered at $74 million, and the room responded with applause as the final price climbed with fees.

Another Rothko from the same group, No. 1 (1949), sold for $20.8 million with fees, slightly above its high estimate. Willem de Kooning's untitled 1970 abstraction, which had been off the market for years, reached $10.8 million with fees after a long bidding battle. The 11-lot sale moved quickly, lasting just over half an hour.

The evening then shifted to a 40-lot contemporary sale that totaled $233.1 million after five withdrawals. Jean-Michel Basquiat's Museum Security (Broadway Meltdown) (1983) led that session at $52.7 million with fees, making it the fifth-most expensive Basquiat ever sold at public auction. The seven-foot painting had last appeared at Christie's London in 2013, when it sold for $14.6 million.

Willem de Kooning's Untitled III (1975), offered for the first time at auction, sold for $26 million with fees. Other notable results included Andy Warhol's Brigitte Bardot (1974) at $24.8 million, Fontana's Concetto spaziale, Il cielo di Venezia (1961) at $16.4 million, Roy Lichtenstein's Half Face with Collar (1963) at just shy of $13 million, Agnes Martin's Untitled 10 (1981) at $8.9 million, and Joan Mitchell's Loom II (1976) at $7.8 million.

The night suggested a market that remains selective but resilient. Blue-chip names, strong provenance, and large-scale works still commanded attention, even as the bidding stayed more measured than theatrical.

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