Works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Frank Stella, and Barnett Newman, among others, prove the city to be an unending and iterative source of inspiration for artists across generations. From the explosive energy of the Postwar years to the downtown scene of the 1980s, the twentieth century found its cultural capital in the heart of New York City, with its artists paying tribute to it through some of their most iconic works.

Works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Frank Stella, and Barnett Newman, among others, prove the city to be an unending and iterative source of inspiration for artists across generations.

New York, I Love You

Yves Klein, Lucio Fontana, and Ad Reinhardt pursue the absolute ends of artistic creation in the post-nuclear age, each turning to different means to achieve a picture beyond representation, whether lacerating the picture plane, seeking new, extraterrestrial media or cloaking the canvas in utter darkness.

Yves Klein, Lucio Fontana, and Ad Reinhardt pursue the absolute ends of artistic creation in the post-nuclear age, each turning to different means to achieve a picture beyond representation, whether lacerating the picture plane, seeking new, extraterrestrial media or cloaking the canvas in utter darkness.

To Infinity

The only extant edition of Maurizio Cattelan’s sold gold toilet, America empowered the world to find its reflection in its beautiful, damning, and uncompromising mirrored basin.

Maurizio Cattelan’s tour de force, his solid, 18-karat toilet America, makes its auction debut at Sotheby’s New York.

Maurizio Cattelan: America

A Legacy Reimagined: Works from the Collection of Dorothy and Roy Lichtenstein is a celebration of Lichtenstein’s legendary status as a founder of the Pop movement and icon of Contemporary art. This exceptional trove of sculptures, paintings, drawings, collages and prints charts four decades of Lichtenstein’s career, capturing Lichtenstein’s profound engagement with his art historical forebears as well as modern-day visual culture—all through his signature visual vernacular. Over the course of his career, Lichtenstein engaged in a profound dialogue with art history’s giants, revisiting the canon through his own imagination. Ultimately, though, Lichtenstein not only reimagined these art historical giants, but also joined the pantheon of legends, as a singular force in the development of Contemporary art.&nbsp;

Works from the Collection of Dorothy and Roy Lichtenstein

A Legacy Reimagined

A Legacy Reimagined: Works from the Collection of Dorothy and Roy Lichtenstein

Artists of the twenty-first century seek to reinvent the storied genre of portraiture. From Henry Taylor to Kerry James Marshall, even teetering on the figurative abstractions of Cecily Brown, contemporary artists tackle the question of how to paint history head-on.

Artists of the twentieth century seek to reinvent the storied genre of portraiture. From Henry Taylor to Kerry James Marshall, even teetering on the abstraction of Cecily Brown, contemporary artists tackle the question of how to paint history head-on.

History Painting Today

On the heels of Hendricks' blockbuster presentation at The Frick Madison, his 1973 masterpiece Arriving Soon makes its auction debut at The Breuer this fall.

On the heels of Hendricks' blockbuster presentation at The Frick Madison, his 1973 masterpiece Arriving Soon appears at auction for the first time at The Breuer this fall.

A Barkley L. Hendricks Masterwork, ‘Arriving Soon’

New York

Head of Contemporary Art Marquee Sales

Lucius Elliott

Vice Chairman, Head of Contemporary Art

David Galperin

Associate Specialist, Contemporary & The Now Evening Auctions

Serena Hildebrandt

Cataloguer, Contemporary and The Now Evening Auctions

Devon Mifflin

Cataloguer, Contemporary & The Now Evening Auctions

Carolyn Kim

Pre-Sale Experience Coordinator, Contemporary Art

Abbey Flamm

Client Accounts Receivable Manager, Contemporary Art

Olivia Hu

Meet our Specialists

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The Contemporary Evening Auction in November 2025 will feature artworks which capture the seismic shifts that occurred in art in the latter half of the 20th Century. Beginning with Post-War abstraction in America and Europe, through to Color-Field painting, Minimalism and the Pop Art movement, and into the critical postmodern inquiries of the 1980s and 1990s, this radical new mode of art-making fundamentally altered the course of art history, laying the foundations for the art movements which would shape the next fifty years across the globe. Spotlighting these developments within a unified platform, the masterworks of the Contemporary Art Evening Sale call into focus the plurality of visions, identities, and artistic innovations that reshaped the trajectory of art history as we know it today.

The Now & Contemporary Evening Auction