Christie's pulled off a spectacular spring, capping the season with Jackson Pollock’s 1948 drip work “Number 7A” that sold for $181.2 million including fees. The seven‑minute bidding war lifted the piece to a new record and signaled the auction houses’ effort to reverse four years of uneven sales. Total revenue across Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips reached $2.5 billion, up from $1.3 billion a year earlier.

Executives leaned on spectacle and financial engineering, staging a Nicole Kidman video around a Brâncuși bronze and pre‑selling risk through third‑party guarantees. Over half the evening lots carried such guarantees, effectively locking in $1.4 billion before the gavel fell. Guarantees helped secure marquee items like Picasso’s “Arlequin (Buste)” at $42.6 million and Brâncuși’s “Danaïde,” which fetched an auction record of $107.6 million.

Despite the sales, price volatility persisted. Works by Pollock, Warhol and de Kooning fell 40‑50 percent from previous peaks, while Rothko and Artschwager saw gains over 600 percent. The rebound hinged on high‑quality estates—Newhouse, Mnuchin, Gund—underscoring that disciplined, trophy‑level offerings, not speculative pieces, now drive the market. Investors welcomed the guarantee model, which lowered risk and attracted corporate and sovereign buyers.