After several years of macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty, the art market began 2026 on steadier ground. Sotheby’s has released its results for the first half of 2026, reporting US$4.4 billion in global sales – up 58% year-on-year and the highest H1 total in the auction house’s history.

Auction sales accounted for US$3.4 billion, rising 59% from a year earlier. The top lot of the half was Mark Rothko's Brown and Black in Reds, which achieved US$85.78 million in New York. Private sales contributed a further US$826 million – also a record for the house.

Editor's note: For Christie's results, see "Christie's first-half 2026 in numbers: US$4.5 billion total, auction sales up 71%."

• Total sales: US$4.4 billion, up 58% year-on-year
• Auction sales: US$3.4 billion, up 59% year-on-year
• Private sales: US$826 million, up 52% year-on-year
• Sell-through rate: 90%, Sotheby’s strongest level since at least 2010
• Average bidders per lot sold: 4.9, up 6% and an all-time high
• In January, Sotheby’s Financial Services (SFS) completed a new US$900 million securitization issuance
• In April, Sotheby’s completed a US$825 million bond issuance to refinance existing debt
   

Key figures from Sotheby's global fine art sales in H1 2026

• The New York Marquee season delivered US$908.6 million in sales, with a combined sell-through rate of 92.5%.
• Works from single-owner collections achieved a 96% sell-through rate, led by Robert Mnuchin: Collector at Heart, which totalled US$173 million. Its highest-priced work, Mark Rothko’s Brown and Black in Reds, sold for US$85.8 million, becoming the artist’s third-most expensive work ever sold at auction.
• London's June Marquee sales totalled US$556.5 million, setting a record for an auction week in Europe.
• The London season was anchored by Masterpieces from The Lewis Collection, which realised US$406.2 million, becoming the highest-value single-owner sale ever held in the UK and the most valuable Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary art sale ever staged in Europe. The top lot was Amedeo Modigliani’s Nu assis au collier, which sold for US$63.9 million.

• The Collection of Jean and Terry de Gunzburg – Design Masters achieved a white-glove result in New York, with all 105 lots sold for a combined total of US$96 million – the most valuable design auction in US history. Modern and Contemporary works from the same collection brought the overall collection total to US$157.6 million.
• In the same design sale, a set of 15 mirrors by Claude Lalanne sold for US$33.45 million, setting an auction record for a work of design.
• The Old Masters sales week in New York realised US$94.8 million, led by Rembrandt's Young Lion Resting, which achieved US$17.9 million and set an auction record for a work on paper by the Dutch master.
• The Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art sale in New York achieved US$22.1 million, the second-highest total ever achieved for the category in Sotheby's history.
   
• In Hong Kong, the Modern and Contemporary evening and day sales totalled US$91.3 million. Joan Mitchell’s diptych La Grande Vallée VII sold for US$17.6 million, setting an auction record in Asia for a work by a woman artist.
• In Paris, the Modern and Contemporary evening sale achieved US$41 million, up 84% year-on-year. Claude Monet's riverside landscape achieved US$12.1 million, setting an auction record for the Impressionist master in France.
• Sotheby's second auction in Saudi Arabia, Origins II, delivered US$19.6 million.

• RM Sotheby’s delivered record first-half sales, up 61% year-on-year from H1 2025, while Concierge Auctions posted an 18% increase in sales over the same period.
• Global watch sales surged 64% from H1 2025, with a 90% sell-through rate.
• Hong Kong Important Watches realised US$52.9 million – the highest total ever achieved for a watch sale at Sotheby’s and the most valuable watch auction ever held in Asia across all auction houses.
• The Shapes of Cartier, billed as the largest and most comprehensive collection of vintage Cartier watches ever offered at auction, was 100% sold and totalled US$17.2 million.
   
• Global jewellery sales rose 13% year-on-year, with a 90% sell-through rate. A standout lot, a 10.02-carat Fancy Intense Blue diamond of cut-cornered rectangular modified brilliant cut, sold for US$8.7 million.
• Immortal Vintages | 200 Years of Bordeaux totalled US$2.1 million in a white-glove New York sale, more than doubling its pre-sale estimate and setting 10 world records.
• The Great American Whiskey Collection realised US$2.5 million, setting a record for the most valuable American whiskey collection sold at auction.