S otheby’s is delighted to present the February 2026 Contemporary Curated auction in New York, marking the auction platform's first season at the iconic Breuer building, Sotheby's new headquarters on Madison Avenue. The February sale will highlight landmark artists of the postwar era, including Donald Judd, Alma Thomas, Jean Dubuffet, Alexander Calder, and Helen Frankenthaler, alongside leading voices in contemporary art today.
Featuring a dynamic collection of works, from Donald Judd to Alma Thomas, the Contemporary Curated sale highlights the innovative ways artists have pushed the boundaries of art over the course of the last seven decades. Discover exceptional highlights by some of the most influential artists working from the 20ᵗʰ century to this day.
The works assembled in Energy and Gesture: Women of the New York School from an Important Private Collection offer a focused and compelling view of four artists whose work embodies the vitality and innovation of postwar American abstraction. Joan Mitchell, Lynne Drexler, Vivian Springford, and Elaine de Kooning each forged a distinctive visual language, united by a commitment to gesture, chromatic intensity, and the expressive possibilities of paint.
As the present owner reflects, they “began collecting the women of the New York School because of the extraordinary breadth and ambition of their talent.” For them, the decision was rooted not in revision, but in recognition: “For too long, the narrative of Abstract Expressionism has centered on the men. These women do not need to ‘earn’ their place in history – they have always been there: trailblazers of a seminal, uniquely American movement.” That conviction resonates powerfully in this group, where energy, gesture, color, texture, and resolution cohere with striking assurance. “It is all present, in every work,” they observe. “They are dazzling artists, full stop.”
“I’ve always felt deeply within myself that I was a damn good artist, though the world didn’t recognize me as such. I wasn’t about to play their game.”
With remarkable clarity of vision, these artists expanded abstraction through deeply personal approaches to form and surface. Joan Mitchell’s compositions pulse with layered color and sweeping movement, translating landscape and memory into immersive, emotionally resonant fields. Elaine de Kooning brought incisive intelligence and calligraphic energy to abstraction, her brushwork fluid, assured, and profoundly expressive. Lynne Drexler built richly structured surfaces from tessellated strokes of luminous pigment, creating rhythmic chromatic harmonies that shimmer and unfold. Vivian Springford explored the atmospheric possibilities of poured and stained paint, producing luminous compositions that balance spontaneity with meditative restraint.
Working with ambition and conviction, these artists helped define the language of abstraction through works of striking originality and emotional power. Their works reveal a fearless engagement with scale, surface, and color—each work a platform for experimentation and discovery. Together, they demonstrate the breadth and versatility of the New York School, affirming the movement not as a fixed style but as a dynamic field of individual expression.
“These works have lived beautifully with us,” the collector reflects. “We now want to introduce them to new custodians who will engage with them and treasure them, just as we have.” Drawn from an important private collection, this distinguished grouping thus marks both a celebration and a transition—an opportunity for a new chapter of stewardship. Sotheby’s is honored to present this remarkable selection, bringing forward works whose vision, rigor, and expressive force continue to shape the history of postwar American art.
Read Less
