In a time of global uncertainty, the market has once again confirmed its appetite for surrealism—its weird resonance emphasizes the contradictions of our civilization that we once tried to expose. Yesterday (September 17) in Sotheby’s London, collectors from all over the world gathered eagerly to witness the trove hill of Pauline Karpidas. Single-person sales earned a score of £73 million ($100 million). Bidding across categories is very fierce, with at least seven competitors chasing more than one piece, and 70% of the plots exceeding their overestimation. As expected, the sale ensures its position is the most valuable single-owner auction ever staged in Europe.
“We at Sotheby’s are all celebrating that all of Sotheby’s are once a once-in-a-lifetime privilege,” said Oliver Barker, Sotheby’s Europe chairman. “I’ve stood on this scene more than I did, but I know I’ll never forget the moment when the hammer fell, nor will it fill our gallery’s electricity for the last eight days.” In an interview with Observers earlier this year, Buck praised Capidas’ collection, driven purely by instinct and belief rather than market fashion.
At the heart of the sale are 23 surreal masterpieces, which together achieved £300.2 million ($41.1 million). “Surrealism caught Pauline’s attention in the early days, which was not only an artistic movement, but also a way of looking at the world in a different way,” explains Buck. The series is expressed with the iconic tension of surrealism – with dramatic quarrels, the weakness of vulnerability being created by ferocity – through symbolic language drawn from the subconscious. After being introduced by legendary dealer Alexander Iolas, Karpidas became one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the movement, who guided her to some of the most visionary creators.
The star of Surrealist Trov, Magritte La Statue Volanteheld in her collection for forty years and purchased through IOLAS, eventually sold to its third-party guarantor for £10,120,000 ($13,762,188). Other Magritte works inspired more intense competition: tête Before selling for £914,400 ($1,243,493), four bidders were attracted, almost three times their estimates of £300,000-500,000 and set a record of artists’ plaster sculptures, while La Race Blanche After the battle between the five bidders, its overestimated price is £635,000 ($863,536).
Several auction records were also rewritten at night. Hans Belmer’s Mills Fill After a six-place contest, Asian collectors expect £100,000-£150,000, and sell for £304,800 ($414,498). One of the few surviving collaborations between Max Ernst and his wife Marie-Berthe Aurenche also set a record, dropping £533,400 ($725,371) in its highest estimate.
Another highly anticipated location, otherworldly symbolic Angelus’s Hour Leonora Carrington, which sells for more than its overvalued price, costs £952,500, is an excellent year for the artist, who has been at the forefront of a renewed interest in Latin American surrealists. According to the recently released X Arttactic Insights report on Surrealism Sotheby’s, the category saw significant growth between 2018 and 2024, with a CAGR of 22.8%, which is much higher than the overall market. Especially for women like Carrington and Leonor Fini: Latin American female surrealists’ market share is estimated to have risen from 17.5% in 2018 to 86% in the first half of 2025.
Meanwhile, Dorothea Tanning’s katchina and her soul It was sold to Asian collectors for £889,000 ($1,208,951), and after six competitions, its estimated £300,000-500,000 estimate doubled. The results further highlight the growing demand for long-ignored female voices in the movement, or simply to intervene in the personal and collective subconscious Oneiric and Grandypal Abysses. The same Sotheby’s X Arttactic report noted that female surrealists’ auction sales rose from $7.9 million in 2018 to $94.3 million in 2024.
The highest price ever made by Yves Tanguy is Lunar Landscape Tire Inconnupriced at £2,480,000 ($3,372,552), doubled its estimates. André Masson’s La Femme paralyzed It also achieved significant results, with prices sold for £1,077,000 ($1,464,612) after being chased by five bidders. The estimated value of the result has more than doubled, but it has exceeded the final price of £272,446 obtained at the auction in 1991.
Outside the realm of surrealism, other works exceeded expectations. Karpidas’s Dark Andy Warhol Screaming (after Munch) After ten minutes of hunting, at least six bidders, eventually sold for £6,628,000 ($9,013,417), marking the highest ever price of Warhol, several million dollars more than the 1996 £62,000 auction at Sotheby’s. Madonna and Self-portrait with skeletal arms (after Munch) Sold for £2,846,000 ($3,870,275), well above its total overestimation and league, surpassing their previous auction price in 1990’s £82,500.
Outstanding designs in the Karpidas series also achieved outstanding results, including Diego Giocometti BERCEAU low table, Première versionafter six bidders chased, its estimates doubled. The table ended up selling £508,000 with global head of Impressionism and Modern Art, Helena Newman, a phone call, highlighting how collectors move smoothly across categories, especially as the design market continues to prove its strength.
This market momentum is clearer with more than a million pounds of Lalanne’s work. Among them, Claude Lalanne Unique choupette– described by Barker as “a icon in itself” – Over £300,000-400,000 estimates to obtain £1,870,000 after the fee. Similarly, the result of jumping from five-digit estimates to seven-digits is rich in decoration Unique structure Végétale Mirrors and wall lamps are for sale for £3,578,000, which is estimated to be £350,000-£450,000. two Console Végétale The work also provides outstanding results, earning £1,809,000 and £1,992,000 respectively. At the same time, customs Unique structure végétale bed Bringed £889,000 (EST. £200,000-300,000), Unique Entrelacs bench For sale for £1,077,000 (EST. £150,000-200,000), a pair Unique crocodile stool From the original 180,000-250,000 estimate, the 977,900 star £977,900 was reached.
Jeff Koons’ Charm and Kitten Marriage Poodle Drew bid anxiously, doubled its estimates and sold for £2,358,000. Pablo Picasso’s Buste d’Homme and Francis Picabia Deux Amies Again, it exceeded expectations, reaching £2,480,000 and £3,334,000 respectively.
Two other pieces in the series sold in the Outstanding Night Auction: 193-Lot Day sales were held today (September 18), and 97-Lot online sales, which will end on September 19.
New buyers are driving surrealism and design markets
Surrealistic auction sales rose from $726.1 million to $800.7 million from 2018 to 2024, and the share of the global art market doubled from 9.3% to 16.8, according to Sotheby’s X Arttactic Insight report. Driven this growth is the most popular surreal name, with prices rising 131.6% during this period, with a CAGR of 8.8%, much higher than the wider art market.
However, demand for what the report calls “contemporary surrealists” is also increasing, a new generation of artists inspired by the movement. The group’s sales grew by 264.8% between 2018 and 2024, with much of the momentum focused on female surrealists. Sales for women in this category increased by 411.4%, increasing their market share to 15.9%, the average for women in the wider art market.
Another striking data point for the report is that while baby boomers and Gen X are still the main forces behind the 100-year-old movement, millennials and Gen Z are still steadily expanding their presence. Gen X accounts for 43.2% of the bidder pool from 2018 to the first half of 2025, and its share rose from 40.0% in 2018 to 52.2% in the first half of this year. Millennials and Gen Z account for 15.2% and 6.5% respectively, with significant demand coming from Asia and now 7.1% of the bidder base in this category.
Gen X, millennials and Gen Z are also driving the strength and global expansion of the design market. As one of our recent analysis shows, June’s design sales at the three major auctions rose by 62.3% year-on-year, which is not only resilient but also accelerated, with new funds pushing it to a higher track.
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