Take a look at the top ten auction results of 2025 and you’d be forgiven for thinking the art market had been magically transported back to the halcyon post-pandemic years. Cumulatively, those lots totaled a robust $757 million—the highest figure since 2022’s $1.1 billion, and well above 2024’s $512.6 million and 2023’s $660 million.

Much of the credit belongs to the specialists at Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips. After a first half of 2025 that looked nearly as dreary as 2024—and with sentiment further dampened by the closure of a half dozen or more major galleries—the auction houses pounded the pavement for A-plus material capable of drawing wary collectors back into the market. By November, all three houses had secured standout consignments, led by Sotheby’s sale of works from the collection of Leonard Lauder and Christie’s sale of works from the collection of Robert and Patricia Ross Weiss. Coupled with aggressive estimates and third-party guarantees, the marquee November sales helped shift the market narrative this fall, bolstered by good energy and sales at Frieze London and Art Basel Paris.

Now with a successful Art Basel Miami Beach now in the rearview mirror, the art market is preparing to wind down until 2026. Before it does, ...