Just 6% of artworks offered at the three major auction houses in 2025 brought more than $1 million, but this modest number of lots had an outsized impact on the fine art market: the 914 artworks that broke the $1 million barrier totaled $4.3 billion, or 76% of its overall value. Sotheby’s, in partnership with ArtTactic, has been tracking the high end of the market closely because it provides invaluable insight to collectors at every level.

It is at the highest reaches of the market that the most sought-after masterpieces can be found and where headline prices are achieved, like the record $236 million brought in November by Gustav Klimt’s portrait of Elisabeth Lederer from the sublime collection of Leonard A. Lauder.

This report, the fifth in a series that launched in 2023, goes beneath the headlines to reveal the key drivers of this rise. The data in this report covers 2018 to 2025, a remarkable span that shows how the high-end of the
market responded to major global events, including the Pandemic, military conflicts, and a realignment of the political and economic order.