Art is still being sold for headling-grabbing prices. Global art sales have cooled over the past three years amid political and economic uncertainty, inflation pressures, and a shifting market, but despite this post-Covid-19 downturn, remarkable artworks continue to achieve record sums at auction.
This year, three masterpieces have already broken the $40 million mark, highlighting a continued appetite for old masters and modernist heavyweights. Another major sale is expected soon, with Frida Kahlo’s dreamscape predicted to fetch $40–60 million in November.
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Canaletto, Venice, the Return of the Bucintoro on Ascension Day
$43.82 million
Once owned by the UK’s first Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole, this masterpiece’s illustrious provenance helped drive it to a landmark price for the painter.
The work achieved the second-highest price ever for an Old Master at Christie’s London and became the most expensive Canaletto ever sold at auction, hammering at $43.82 million in June – smashing a nearly two-decade record by £13 million.
What’s the story behind its record price?
The painting was completed during Canaletto’s golden age.
Andrew Fletcher, Christie’s global head of the old masters department, described it as rare, ticking every box’: subject, date, condition, provenance, and a world-recognised artist.
With only two prior auctions in its 200-year history, it drew five bidders from Asia, Europe, and North America, with the winning bid coming from a multi-category collector
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Fletcher described the painting as ‘an A+ in every regard’, and ‘the greatest work by the artist to come to market in a generation.’
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Monet, Peupliers au bord de l’Epte, crépuscule
$42.9 million
Monet continues to dominate high-value auctions.This 1891 painting triggered a five-minute bidding war at Christie’s New York in May.
Dating to Monet’s breakthrough decade of the 1890s, it captures the twilight moment of his acclaimed Peupliers series, marking a pivotal shift toward abstraction in his work.
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This example was one of just four works from the artist’s acclaimed Peupliers series to specify a particular time of day in their titles (twilight in this case).
Julia Bell, founder of Parapluie and a Spear’s 500 top-recommended art adviser, explains the painting’s significance: ‘This work is not from as familiar a period of Monet’s artistic oeuvre, but it is from a pivotal point in his career, where he moved more into abstraction.
‘So this is an acclaimed series for those who know the artist’s work.’
What’s the story behind its record price?
The painting’s first owner was the legendary dealer Paul Durand-Ruel, who acquired the work in 1892 and, within whose family collection it remained until 1955. It came to auction from a private collection, where it had been for more than 60 years.
It was first exhibited the year after it was created in the Monet exhibition, Série des peuplier des bords de l’Epte, from February to March 1892 and has since travelled the world, appearing in exhibitions from London to Tokyo.
The painting has been on long-term loan at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston for the past 35 years. ‘Works that are from key periods of an artists’ practice and which have been held in notable collections add to the appeal,’ says Bell.
Monet is an art titan who defines excellence and that, despite his comparative ubiquity at auction (his yearly lot average is 18), ensures his paintings steal the headlines. As Fletcher notes, wealthy art buyers are ‘ultimately searching for the best’.
‘Buyers are definitely more cautious, demanding, and particular.’ Bell said.
‘Solid blue chip works by notable artists are a safer option in times of uncertainty, particularly in the case of the Monet where a lesser known series (to some) still has growth in terms of future recognition and value. And then you cannot overlook the passion in collecting, those who for them the desire to collect a particular work comes at a price that they are prepared to pay even in a tricky time in the market because their ownership of it will likely out ride this period. Fundamentally these works are so important to the canon of art history that they have a place in a true collector’s world.’
Piet Mondrian, Composition with Large Red Plane, Bluish Gray, Yellow, Black and Blue
$47.6 million
A rare 1922 gridded painting by Mondrian is so far the most expensive artwork to sell at auction this year after achieving $47.6 million CHK in May at Christie’s New York.
A bidding war between two wealthy art enthusiasts helped drive the price to a 2025 high, although it hammered just short of the Dutch modernist’s auction record.
The piece was sold as part of the collection of Leonard and Louise Riggio, founders of the bookseller Barnes & Noble. The single-owner evening sale featured more than 30 works by notable artists, including René Magritte, Pablo Picasso, Alberto Giacometti and Andy Warhol.
Bell said the painting was created during Mondrian’s ‘most influential period, 1917 to 1944.’
‘Coming out of the first world war he was challenging the notion of abstraction with these pioneering grid works and receiving considerable interest and attention by critics, curators and peers,’ Bell told Spear’s.
What’s the story behind its record price?
Two other Mondrians have nudged across the $40 million mark: 1929 canvas Composition No. III, with Red, Blue, Yellow, and Black fetched $50.6 million in 2015 at Christie’s, while an artist’s record was achieved when the 1930 painting Composition No. II sold for $51 million in 2022 at Sotheby’s.
Mondrian may be part of the establishment now, but in the 1920s, his gridded modernist pieces challenged existing ideas and pushed art history forward. As Sotheby’s notes, the piece ‘encapsulates the purity, elegance and extreme rigor of Piet Mondrian’s revolutionary mature aesthetic.’
‘The work hums with an electricity that mirrors the energy of painting in Europe at this time,’ said Sotheby’s Europe chairman Oliver Barker.
This is another piece with intriguing providence. The artwork was originally owned by Dutch poet Antony Kok, a friend and key patron, who bought it from the artist. The work, says Bell, has not ‘been seen for nearly 30 years so its reappearance on the market is rare.’