Sotheby's

13/10/2026

Leon Kossoff’s ‘Willesden Junction, Summer No. 1’ is one of the defining achievements of postwar British painting. Acquired directly from the artist in 1971, it’ll make its auction debut in The London Sales: https://bit.ly/4s1SmH7

‘Willesden Junction, Summer No. 1’ shows the view from a station known colloquially as Wilderness Junction. Here, Sotheby’s Giacomo Prideaux takes a closer look at this striking image and shares more about its exceptional provenance.

The painting reveals Kossoff at the height of his powers, transforming the junction into a picture of vitality, emotional depth and radical invention.

See Kossoff’s masterwork on view at ahead of The Contemporary Evening Auction, presented in partnership with St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, on 15 October. Plan your visit and register to bid at the link in bio.

13/10/2026

A painting from Yayoi Kusama’s coveted pumpkin series soared at in the recent Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction. Watch as bidders made quick work over the rare orange gourd, which achieved HK$60.7 million in The Hong Kong Sales, presented in partnership with CELINE.

Plump, feisty and bursting with energy, ‘Pumpkin (TWPOT)’ features a seldom-seen shade of golden-orange that distinguishes it within Kusama’s celebrated pumpkin motif. It’s covered in precisely painted polka dots and set against a wall of tessellated nets––all of which are key elements of the artist’s style.

Surreal and fantastical, Kusama’s pumpkin paintings exhibit the single-minded meticulous vision that defines the artist’s career.

Looking to consign with Sotheby’s? Tap the link in bio to find out more.

13/10/2026

Visiting Mayfair for Frieze Week and The London Sales? Check out our definitive guide to Mayfair, written in partnership with St. Regis Hotels & Resorts: https://bit.ly/4igJjia

Here, in-the-know insiders from Sotheby’s and the soon-to-open St. Regis London share their tips for making the most of it. This week, the city takes on an exceptionally impressive glow as the stomping ground for the global art world. Discover more at Sothebys.com.

One of London's most artful corners comes alive during Frieze--but where to begin? In-the-know insiders from Sotheby's and the soon-to-open St. Regis London share their tips for making the most of it

12/10/2026

A romance told through 40 years’ worth of portraits. This week, an example from Frank Auerbach’s expansive series of portraits of his wife is on view at ahead of The Modern British Evening Auction.

Here, Sotheby’s Tamsin Golding Yee tells the story of Auerbach and his wife, Julia Wolstenholme. She was one of the first people to sit for the artist when they were both students at the Royal College of Art. Over the next four decades, he would capture her changing moods, feelings and the fusion of their two energies coming together.

‘Head of Julia’ will be auctioned in The London Sales, presented in partnership with St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, on 14 October. Register to bid at the link in bio.

12/10/2026

A man, a silhouette, a portal. However you interpret him, René Magritte’s bowler-hatted man is one of the most iconic images in Modern Art. This fall, ‘L'ami de l'ordre,’ the painting in which Magritte first transformed his celebrated figure into a window onto another world, will be auctioned at : https://bit.ly/4B4taDV

The bowler-hatted man stands in for the average man in 20th century Europe, defined by his generic features and bourgeois clothing. Paradoxically, the man also represents Magritte himself, who often wore this same attire. The image epitomizes Magritte’s singular interpretation of Surrealism, which explored the mystery of the familiar.

In ‘L'Ami de l'ordre,’ the figure’s presence is defined by his absence. By removing the physical form of the man’s body, Magritte emphasizes the notion of presence through absence. Swipe to see other examples of Magritte’s everyman, including an early appearance in 1926.

‘L'Ami de l'ordre’ is from The Collection of Sydell Miller and will come to auction for the first time in decades in The Modern Evening Auction, presented in partnership with CELINE, on 18 November.

12/10/2026

POV: You’re touring the galleries at New Bond Street ahead of The London Sales.

Follow Sotheby’s Antonia Gardner as she shows us highlights from The Contemporary Evening Auction, presented in partnership with St. Regis Hotels & Resorts. From Mark Rothko’s meditative untitled work on paper, to a monumental Albert Oehlen computer painting, the works on view reflect the seismic shifts in art-making from the postwar period to today.

The exhibition is on view through 15 October. Plan your visit: https://bit.ly/4s1SmH7

12/10/2026

Just two fields of color carry the full emotional and spiritual weight of this Mark Rothko picture. ‘Untitled’ belongs to the important and revealing group of works on paper the artist made in the final years of his life. See it now at .

Painted in 1969, it’s among Rothko’s most meditative works. The upper section reads as a deep, endless void, and below it sits a warmer, earth-toned field. Together they produce an image of quiet unease, an embodiment of the moment between light and dark.

‘Untitled’ stands as a compelling, unflinching late statement—a testament to Rothko's mastery of a spare, meditative palette that came to define the closing chapter of his legendary career.

This work on paper is a highlight of The Contemporary Evening Auction, presented in partnership with St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, on 15 October. Register to bid at the link in bio.

© 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko / DACS, London

10/10/2026

Perhaps the best way know an artist’s practice is on paper. This is true for Count Christian Duerckeim, whose exceptional collection of works on paper will head to this month.

Works on Paper from The Duerckheim Collection will auction in both The Contemporary Evening Auction on 15 October and The Contemporary Day Auction on 16 October. Register to bid at the link in bio. exploration of postwar German art.

The selection in The London Sales, presented in partnership with CELINE, brings together outstanding works by Baselitz, Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke, A.R. Penck and Blinky Palermo.

Works on Paper from The Duerkheim Collection will auction in both The Contemporary Evening Auction on 15 October and The Contemporary Day Auction on 16 October. Register to bid at the link in bio.

09/10/2026

The late Georg Baselitz dedicated his career to creating an artistic language rooted in the traditions of German painting while also dismantling them. No series proves this as well as his inverted paintings, one of which will soon star in The London Sales: https://bit.ly/3TJgZeZ

Baselitz had a breakthrough in 1969 when he made his first upside-down piece. Far from a simple provocation, this inversion represented one of the most radical gestures in contemporary painting.

By turning his subjects upside down, Baselitz unsettles your perspective, complicating any clear reading of narrative. These inversions also allowed Baselitz to embrace traditional genres that he had previously avoided such as landscapes and portraits.

‘Die Geißelung’ from 1983 is an arresting example of Baselitz's revolutionary technique. It’ll come to in The Contemporary Evening Auction, presented in partnership with St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, on 15 October.

09/10/2026

Today, at our first-ever live auction at The Macallan Estate, a bottle of The Macallan Fine & Rare 1926 sold for a final price of $2.81 million, becoming the most valuable wh**ky ever sold in US dollars.

With this result, Sotheby's now holds the top three prices ever achieved for a bottle of wh**ky sold at auction. Relive the moment with Sotheby's auctioneer Jonny Fowle.