UTAGAWA HIROSHIGE (1797-1858) – Kameido ume yashiki (Plum estate, Kameido), deluxe edition made a world record price of $358,400
One of the world’s greatest collections of works by the master printmaker Hiroshige rocketed past its total estimate at Christie’s in New York last night. The Alan Medaugh collection of Hiroshige made $6,991,616. All 181 lots sold. The total hammer plus premium was 4.6 times the low estimate.
Among many notable results were: A triptych, Eight night views of Kanazawa, Musashi Province, which set a world record at $345,600, 8.6 times its low estimate; Kameido ume yashiki (Plum estate, Kameido), deluxe edition, which realized $358,400, a world record, six times its low estimate; Awa, Naruto no fuha (Wind and waves at Naruto, Awa Province), which realized $281,600, a world record and more than nine times its low estimate.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for August 16, 2026)
Monsoon: The Peter Simon Collection will highlight Christie’s London Marquee Week in October. Offered in three dedicated auctions with an evening sale on October 14,, a day sale on October 15 plus an online sale from October 1-20 collectively comprising nearly 200 works, this selection from the personal collection of British businessman Peter Simon, the founder of Monsoon, will be offered during Frieze Week. The paintings in these sales span the history of Modern and Contemporary art, connecting the St Ives School with European Modernism, Abstract Expressionism with Op Art, and the School of London with contemporary painting from around the world. Major works by masters of modern and contemporary art (such as Francis Bacon, Piet Mondrian, Joan Miró, Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso and Hurvin Anderson) are presented alongside lesser-known and rarely seen pieces, each selected for its individual character and story. Bacon’s Figure in Movement is estimated at £14 million – £18 million.
The collection bears witness to Simon’s love of colour, form and pattern, honed by hours spent reviewing prints with Monsoon’s fashion and textile designers, and guided by an innate understanding of shades, textures and composition. Alighiero Boetti’s Mappa, created in 1988 (£2,000,000-3,000,000), is an emblematic example of this: vibrant hand-sewn silk embroideries that depict the world’s landmasses fragmented into nation-states, with flags filling their irregular outlines to create a melee of colour, pattern and symbol. They were produced in partnership with Afghan weavers who crafted the maps to Boetti’s instructions.
The most important Mondrian offered in Europe since 2009 will come up at Christie’s in London on October 14. With an estimate of £20 million – £30 million ((€23.3 million – €35 million) Composition III was painted at a pivotal moment when the artist achieved the first breakthrough examples of his visionary Neo-Plastic style. It was 1920, a year in which Mondrian completed just eight landmark paintings. Five of them are in renowned museum collections like Tate London, MoMA New York, the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome and the Wilhelm-Ha ck Museum, Ludwigshafen. At auction for the first time ever Composition III is a highlight at Christie’s 20th/21st Century evening sale. In 2009 Mondrian’s Composition avec bleu, rouge, jaune et noir (1922) and Composition I from the legendary collections of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé were sold at Christie’s in Paris.
Johnny Marr’s Rickenbacker 330 Jetglo 1982. Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £358,400
Johnny Marr, regarded as the guitar genius of a generation, co-founded the groundbreaking 1980’s band The Smiths at the age of 18 in 1982. Since then the Manchester born Irish musician originally named Maher has been a member of The Pretenders, The The, Electronic, The Healers, Modest House and The Cribs. He has collaborated with a roll call of greats across indie, rock, pop and film including The Pet Shop Boys, Talking Heads, Bryan Ferry, Beck, Hans Zimmer, Oasis, Pearl Jam, Noel Gallagher, Billie Eilish, Blondie, Gorillaz and Franz Ferdinand.
Around 80 guitars along with amps and equipment integral to his extraordinarily wide ranging career will come under the hammer at Marr’s Guitars: The Johnny Marr Collection at Christie’s in London on September 17. A 1960 Cherry Red Gibson ES-355 will lead the sale (£100,000-£150,000) (€117,000-€175,600). His 1982 Rickenbacker 330 Jetglo, for many the guitar most strongly associated with his melodic Smiths era sound, is estimated at £60,000-£80,000 (€70,250-€93,660). Estimates in this auction of 95 lots range from £1,000 tp £150,000 (€1,170-€175,600). Johnny Marr will donate 100% of the sale of ten lots to benefit the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and The National Autistic Society. In June Marr released “Spin” as the lead single for his album The Age of Everything due to be released in October.
UPDATE: THE COLLECTION TOTALLED OVER £3.6 MILLION, MORE THAN TRIPLE THE ESTIMATE
Johnny Marr’s 1960 Cherry Red Gibson ES-355. Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £204,800
Claude Monet died in 1926 and to mark the centenary Christie’s has just announced the auction of Bord des falaises à Pourville estimated at €11–15 million. Encouraged by his dealer Paul Durand-Ruel, Monet travelled to Pourville in Normandy in 1882 for what would become one of the most prolific periods of his career. Part of a landmark series within the artist’s oeuvre, Bord des falaises à Pourville is further distinguished by its exceptional provenance, having come directly from Paul Durand-Ruel’s personal collection. The painting will highlight of Christie’s sale of the Durand-Ruel Collection in Paris next October 22 during Art Basel Paris week.
Jackson Pollock’s Number 7A 1948 is the most expensive painting sold at auction this year.
Record half year results at Christie’s and Sotheby’s reveal an international market that is booming. In an unequal world that is wealthier than ever before it has been an extraordinary year so far on many fronts.
In the first six months of 2026 consolidated sales at Sotheby’s hit $4.4 billion (€3.85 billion), a 58% increase on the same period in 2025. Christie’s reported first half revenues of $4.6 billion (€4.02 billion) in the same period and sold the most expensive painting.
Jackson Pollock’s Number 7A 1948 made a record $181.2 million (€158.39 million) in New York in May, a record for the artist and a record for a painting sold at auction this year.
All markets are subject to highs and lows but the current boom is different. This market is driven by quality. Buyers are parting with their money with great discrimination. Speculative spenders are absent. The onus on auction houses is to find works to sell that are of museum quality.
Constantin Brancusi – Danaïde sold for $107 million (€93.53 million) at Christie’s.
How is this achieved? Much of the answer lies in collections. The taste for high art develops as serious interest grows. Most people expand their horizons during their collecting journey. There is so much to learn. Art collecting is a lifetime interest that richly rewards anyone, wealthy or not. But the fabulous collections amassed by discriminating and wealthy collectors over many years underpin the successes seen so far in 2026.
The Pollock painting came from the private collection of the late Condé Nast publisher S I Newhouse. The sale price nearly tripled the previous record for the artist and propelled the Newhouse Collection forward to achieve $631 million (€551.56 million). The 20th Century evening sale at Christie’s on the same May evening in New York made $490.3 million (€428.57 million) for an evening art sale total of over $1.1 billion (€960 million).
Pablo Picasso – Portrait of Dora Maar from the Lewis Collection.
At the Masterpieces from The Lewis Collection sale at Sotheby’s in London 25 paintings made £296 million (€342.95 million) and nine works, led by Modigliani’s Seated Nude with Necklace (£48.2 million – €55.84 million), sold for more than ten million. In total the collection of former Tottenham Hotspur owner Joe Lewis made £355.02 million (€417.43 million) to become the highest value single owner collection ever sold in the UK. In New York Robert Mnuchin’s collection of the titans of American Abstract Expressionism made $173 million (€152.22 million).
The first single owner design sale at Sotheby’s new hq at The Breuer building in New York – the collection of Jean and Terry de Gunzberg – made $96 million (€83.91). This was the most valuable design sale in US auction history.
Both Sotheby’s and Christie’s have a pipeline of autumn and winter sales that promise to make 2026 a year to remember in the saleroom.
World Cup Earthball inscribed by Chris Martin with names of performers at halftime show UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $6,050
Fans across the globe can bid on authentic game-used balls, jerseys signed by national teams, and outfits worn by performers in the first-ever FIFA World Cup 2026 Final halftime show at a charity auction online. Christie’s and Global Citizen have an online sale at Christie’s from until July 29. Proceeds will support the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, an initiative to raise $100 million to expand access to quality education and sports for children in underserved communities, supporting grassroots organisations worldwide. Lots on offer include a ball used during the final on July 19, jerseys signed by Lionel Messi, Carlos Henrique, David Beckham, Santiago Jiminez, the US team and more. There is clothing used by Shakira, Chris Martin, BTS, Madonna and Justin Bieber during the half time show along with lots of World Cup 2026 memorabilia.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time Zinedine Zidane – who won his World Cup Medal for France in 1998 and Player of the Tournament in the 2006 World Cup – will sell his first personal watch for charity at Christie’s in Geneva on November 9. The Cartier Pasha was the first watch he bought for himself at the beginning of his professional career in Bordeaux nearly 35 years ago and he has worn it ever since. It will be sold in aid of the European Leukodystrophies Association (ELA) as part of a charitable sale of watches. ELA is a non profit organisation which funds medical research, raises public awareness and provides support to families dealing with diseases that destroy the central nervous system.
Jackson Pollock’s Number 7A, 1948, the top lot at auction so far made $181.2 million at Christie’s New York in May.
The resurgence in the art market continued in the first half of 2026. Christie’s reported first half revenues of $4.6 billion. Jackson Pollock’s Number 7A 1948 made $181.2 million at Masterpieces: The Private Collection of S.I. Newhouse in May and is the top lot sold at auction in the first half of 2026.
It has also been a record half year at Sotheby’s, which reported consolidated sales of $4.4 billion, a 58% increase over the first half of 2025. Auction sales at Sotheby’s reached an all time high of $3.4 billion with bidding from 119 countries across 170 auctions.
Oliver Barker, Sotheby’s chairman, Europe, selling Masterpieces from the Lewis Collection in London.
[BRONTË, Emily (1818-1848) and Anne (1820-1849)] Wuthering Heights. A Novel. By Ellis Bell. – Agnes Grey. A Novel, by Acton Bell. London: Thomas Cautley Newby, 1847 sold for £1,206,500/ €1,399,540 setting a new world auction record for the author, as well as the highest price ever achieved for 19th-century literature and for any printed book by a woman.
A truly exceptional first edition of Wuthering Heights in the original cloth binding and of Agnes Grey by Brontë sisters Emily and Anne sold for £1.2 million at Christie’s Exceptional Sale in London today. Preserved within the same historic house library since shortly after publication in 1847, it is perhaps the finest example remaining in private hands of a masterpiece of English literature. No textually complete copy has appeared at auction in the publisher’s cloth binding since 1908.
Although both Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey were written and accepted for publication before Charlotte had completed Jane Eyre, it was the latter work which was published first, in October 1847. The immediate and enormous success of Jane Eyre prompted Thomas Cautley Newby to bring forward the release of the present works in order to capitalise on the phenomenon. The exact number of copies printed is unknown, but it was suggested by Charlotte that the run was limited to just 250. Of these, examples preserved in any form of publisher’s binding are exceedingly scarce, with those in full cloth being the rarest of all.
