Sotheby’s auction features a masterpiece by Tamara de Lempicka with a staggering estimate of $12 million. Additionally, works that went missing from the Frida Kahlo Museum are now appearing at various auctions, and the earliest painting by Caravaggio has been discovered. These stories and more highlight the latest developments in art market news.
Upcoming Auctions: Masterpieces of Surrealism Collection
Sotheby’s has announced an upcoming sale that will showcase “the largest collection of surrealist masterpieces in modern history” this fall. In mid-September, a selection of works from the collection of Greek shipowner Konstantinos “Dino” Karpidas and his wife Pauline will be auctioned in London. Their luxurious villa on the Greek island of Hydra has served as a retreat and creative space for contemporary art luminaries such as Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, and Sarah Lucas, earning Pauline Karpidas the title of the second Peggy Guggenheim. In 2023, pieces from their collection sold for €35 million at Sotheby’s auctions in Paris. The estimated total for the works to be auctioned in London is around £60 million, featuring artists like René Magritte, Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, and Yves Tanguy. Following her husband’s passing, Pauline Karpidas continues to collect contemporary art, planning to allocate a portion of the auction proceeds to support emerging artists.
In late July, Sotheby’s auctioned a painting by Tamara de Lempicka, which has quickly been recognized as the artist’s main masterpiece. The canvas “La Belle Rafaela” (1927) is on the market for the first time in 40 years. Previously sold at Sotheby’s in 1985 for $242,000, the current estimate for this iconic artwork is approximately $12 million. Representatives from Sotheby’s indicate that the art market has only recently begun to value de Lempicka’s legacy, particularly as the centenary of the Art Deco style is celebrated globally. A musical about de Lempicka’s life was staged on Broadway last year, and extensive retrospectives of her works have been exhibited across America. Today, Tamara de Lempicka’s art is included in the collections of notable figures such as Madonna, Barbra Streisand, and Jack Nicholson. The record auction price for de Lempicka’s works stands at £16.3 million, achieved in 2020 with the sale of “Portrait of Marjorie Ferry” at Christie’s. Christie’s attempted to surpass this record in the winter of 2025 with “Portrait of Dr. Bukhar,” but to no avail. Sotheby’s appears to have a better chance, as the largest auction sales of de Lempicka’s works have been female portraits, with her nudes commanding even higher market values.
Recent Auctions: $520,000 for Half a Dozen Labubu and Rodin’s “Despair”
At a recent auction held by the French auction house Rouillac, participants competed for about 20 minutes over a rare work by Auguste Rodin. The statuette “Despair,” long considered lost, is a smaller marble replica of the master’s original sculpture. Ultimately, it was sold to a private American collector for $1 million. Auctioneer Emeric Rouillac discovered the statuette during a routine appraisal of a provincial collection in Berry, France. It was revealed that “Despair” had been sitting atop a piano in the owners’ living room for years, completely unnoticed as a genuine masterpiece.
In Beijing, the Yongle auction house recently conducted its first auction dedicated entirely to Labubu keychain toys. All 48 lots found new owners, raising over half a million dollars collectively. The top lot was a collectible life-size Labubu doll in mint green, which sold for $170,000.
Stay tuned for more updates in the ever-evolving world of art market news!
