Art Market Watch: October Auctions Signal A Shift From Survival To Confidence

Two single-owner collections set the tone for October’s renewed confidence – and both put printmaking at the centre. Sotheby’s David Hockney: The Arrival of Spring realised £4.8 million at the hammer, while Christie’s Spellbound: The Hegewisch Collection brought in £7 million – both runaway successes that underscored a growing appetite for editioned works across eras.

Sotheby’s David Hockney Arrival of Spring White Glove Success

At Sotheby’s, all 17 works from The Arrival of Spring were editioned 15/25. Six made their auction debut, and nearly every piece set a new benchmark price. The key to the sale’s success was scarcity. These iPad drawings are exceptionally hard to source, publicly or privately – only 11 had sold before this, just three more than the previous year. This was the first time such a cohesive group had been offered together, and collectors responded with confident, competitive bidding.

Christie’s Spellbound complemented that story from a different angle. A mix of engravings, woodcuts, etchings, and drawings, the sale saw 53% of lots exceed their estimates – a notable result that reinforced the season’s renewed confidence in printmaking as a medium. Together, the two collections highlighted a clear behavioural shift, where collectors are engaging across mediums, eras, and price points in pursuit of artistic craft and material depth.

What Sold In The New York Editions Sales

At Sotheby’s, five Marilyn prints – all editioned 222/250 – drew significant competition, echoing the psychological premium seen in Hockney’s Arrival of Spring sale, where identical edition numbers heightened the appeal of matching sets. Every work either met or exceeded expectations, but the standout was Marilyn II.30, featuring a rare ghost image of George Washington within the print – a completely unique anomaly that underscored the individuality that can exist even within editions. The work sold for $215,900 (USD) against a $120,000 high estimate.

Warhol’s Myths series also performed strongly, with a Superman printer’s proof (PP 1/5) setting a new record at $444,500 (USD), and Mickey Mouse achieving $241,300. At Phillips, demand for Warhol’s Trial Proofs (TP) came roaring back – two Moonwalk TPs, one featuring a vivid red-orange astronaut outlined in electric blue and acid green, reached $516,000 (USD), a new record for the individual work.

Christie’s offered its own standout with a rare complete set of Details of Renaissance Paintings (Sandro Botticelli) – the first time all four colourways had appeared together since 2016 – which achieved a record $666,750 (USD). Warhol’s Ads series also reappeared after relative scarcity, with a Lifesavers (TP) featuring a royal purple background setting a record at $165,100 (USD), while Apple achieved $241,300 (USD).

Lichtenstein On Track For a Record Year

Beyond Warhol, Lichtenstein’s works continued to perform well in the New York print sales, particularly pieces from his Surrealist Series including Blonde, a trending work in the market which hit $40,640 (USD). Though not from his personal collection, their results reflected how print collectors are closely tracking and capitalising on momentum within artist markets.

If there’s a single takeaway, it’s that the market for editioned works – even at the blue chip level – remains resilient. Prints are holding their ground, and they’re actively expanding the middle of the market in meaningful ways. That momentum carried through to the following Paris sales, where Lichtenstein’s editions also performed well – a study for At the Beach achieved €304,800, and an Artist’s Proof of Water Lily Pond With Reflections realised €1.1 million, underscoring continued confidence in top-tier printmaking.

Two broader trends emerging from these October sales are worth watching into Q4:

Segmented Strength. Collectors are diversifying across mediums, artists, and genres – and the print market reflects that shift more clearly than anywhere else. Value is no longer monolithic; it’s shaped by artist, series, and edition structure, with collectors showing increasing sophistication in how they assess rarity, authorship, and narrative.

Structural Shifts. As auction houses adapt to these behavioural changes, we’re seeing strategy evolve. Single-owner print sales have proven remarkably successful in the October sales, and I would bet that we will see more estate print collections integrated into the November evening and day sales going forward – with the latter now often accompanied by more guarantees.

Finally, while public auctions projected renewed stability, it’s critical to emphasise that much of the year’s real market movement still remains concentrated in private transactions – where discretion, placement, and timing can offer more assured success in the current climate. Equally important, however, is that the broader market appears to be in a phase of recalibration – one where quiet confidence, curatorial storytelling, and evolving sales formats are proving far stronger than they might appear in the headlines.