1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
In focus
ChristmasSyriaGerman election 2025
Latest audioLatest videos
Live TV

Sotheby's

Sotheby's is one of the world's oldest auction houses. It specializes in selling fine art, decorative art, jewelry and collectibles, as well as real estate.

Skip next section All Content on this topic

All Content on this topic

A banana attached to a white wall with silver duct tape.

Why a duct-taped banana sold for millions of dollars

As "Comedian," a banana duct-taped to a wall, is sold at auction, here's a look back at how the banana inspires artists.
ArtsNovember 21, 2024
A man wearing a crown raises his arm on stage

Freddie Mercury treasure trove on show before auction

Sotheby's in London presents an exhibition and auction of the rock star's kaleidoscopic personal collection.
CultureAugust 3, 2023
People sitting in a blue lit room where the Sotheby's auction 'KARL' is held.

Watching Lagerfeld's estate go under the hammer

What goes on at an auction? DW's Brenda Haas finds out at Sotheby's Cologne during a sale of Karl Lagerfeld's estate.
CultureMay 6, 2022
Workers hold 'The Man of Sorrows' by Sandro Botticelli which is on display at a media preview for Sotheby's Masters Week in New York City

Botticelli work sells for $45 million at New York auction

Botticelli likely painted the depiction of Jesus near the end of his life. Few of his works are in private hands.
ArtsJanuary 27, 2022
A worker wearing a Sotheby's apron holds up the painting in front of their face.

Frida Kahlo self-portrait sells for $35 million

Frida Kahlo's "Diego and I" sold at auction for the highest price ever paid for a painting by a Latin American artist.
ArtsNovember 17, 2021
Rothko's 'No. 7' is on display as part of the The Macklowe Collection in New York.

Divorce leads to $676 million Sotheby art auction

A painting by Mark Rothko sold for $82.5 million making it the most expensive item for the evening.
ArtsNovember 16, 2021
Tim Berners-Lee and a computer from the 1990s.

World Wide Web source code NFT sold

Internet history under the hammer: Sir Tim Berners-Lee's source code for the World Wide Web was auctioned off.
CultureJuly 3, 2021
The painting of multi-colored water lilies

Claude Monet masterpiece sells for $70.4 million

An impressionist masterwork from Monet's "Water Lilies" series smashed price expectations in New York.
CultureMay 13, 2021
The complete first edition of Bach's works piled around a Bach bust

Bach scores owned by Gustav Mahler

The Bach Archive in Leipzig has purchased a copy of the composer's collected works with annotations by Gustav Mahler.
MusicFebruary 24, 2021
Christo and Jeanne-Claude stand together in black coats, in front of an orange backdrop.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude's art auctioned

Sotheby's auction house in Paris puts Christo and Jeanne-Claude's personal art collection up for auction.
CultureFebruary 18, 2021
Man holds painting "Young Man Holding a Roundel" up on a wall

Rare Botticelli sells for record $92 million

Sotheby's has auctioned off a 15th-century masterpiece, the Botticelli painting "Young Man Holding a Roundel."
CultureJanuary 28, 2021
Pink diamond at Sotheby's auction

Rare pink diamond auctioned for $26.6 million

The new owner of "The Spirit of the Rose" could profit from soaring prices of pink diamonds due to their extreme rarity.
LifestyleNovember 12, 2020
"Show me the Monet" by Banksy

Banksy painting fetches almost $10 million

The artwork is the reclusive artist's take on a famous piece by French impressionist Claude Monet.
ArtsOctober 22, 2020
Rubens-Gemälde im Auktionshaus Sotheby's

Sotheby's auctions Rubens masterpiece

"Portrait of a Lady:"Experts found a dusty old painting from a family collection to be a real Rubens.
CultureJuly 27, 2020
Schweiz Ausstellung Der junge Picasso-Blaue und Rosa Periode

Who are Picasso's heirs?

An auction at Sotheby's has reignited disputes auction has also opened old family woun
CultureJune 9, 2020
David Bennett, head of Sotheby's international jewellery, prepares to auction a giant diamond named the "Pink Star" in Hong Kong in 2017. It sold for $71.2 million

COVID-19 is set to jolt the art market into the future

The coronavirus plaguing the world may just upend the old business models used by big auction houses for decades.
BusinessMarch 6, 2020
Banksy artwork 'Girl with Balloon' shredded through the bottom of the frame as it was sold

Banksy says 'Balloon Girl' stunt went wrong

The artist Banksy has released a video that implies that the shredding of his artwork "Balloon Girl" was botched.
CultureOctober 18, 2018
Banksy artwork Girl with Red Balloon shredded during auction at Sotheby's

Shredded Banksy buyer goes ahead with purchase

Experts have said the painting that self-destructed at an auction last week could be worth more than it was originally.
ArtsOctober 12, 2018
England London Sotheby's Gemälde Girl with Red Balloon von Banksy

Banksy artwork self-destructs at auction

Onlookers gasped as the painting of "Balloon Girl" shredded itself to pieces just as it was marked down for a million.
ArtsOctober 6, 2018
Sotheby's New York auction house with the Modigliani on display

Sotheby's sells its most expensive artwork ever

A painting by Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani has become the most valuable work ever sold at Sotheby's.
ArtsMay 15, 2018
Picasso-Porträt wird in London versteigert

Picasso portrait fetches nearly £50 million at auction

A work with strong autobiographical appeal by the world-renowned artist trumped expectations at a London sale.
CultureMarch 1, 2018
Filmstill Vom Winde verweht

Vivien Leigh's estate goes to auction

Sotheby's in London is putting the "Gone With the Wind" late star's personal items up to auction.
LifestyleSeptember 26, 2017
Gemälde "Untitled" von Jean-Michel Basquiat

Basquiat painting sells for record price

An artwork by the late US artist Jean-Michel Basquiat has reached a record $110 million at a New York auction.
CultureMay 19, 2017
Edvard Munch "Girls on the Bridge"

Edvard Munch paint auctioned for over $54 million

"Girls on the Bridge" has become Norwegian painter Edvward Munch's second-most expensive painting ever sold.
CultureNovember 15, 2016
London Versteigerung der privaten Kunstsammlung David Bowies bei Sotheby's

David Bowie art auction raises $41 million

Auction house Sotheby's has completed the two-day sale of artworks belonging to the late musician David Bowie.
CultureNovember 12, 2016
London Versteigerung der privaten Kunstsammlung David Bowies bei Sotheby's

David Bowie's art collection sells at London auction

The first part of David Bowie's art collection has made more than 27 million euros at auction in London.
ArtsNovember 11, 2016
01.2012 DW Euromaxx

Euromaxx - Lifestyle Europe | 03.11.2016

David Bowie's passion for art, acrobatics with the Miller twins and Berlin's beautiful parks.  
CultureNovember 3, 2016
The Beatles 1963. Copyright: Keystone/Getty Images.

Sotheby's puts music memorabilia under the hammer

A Beatles management contract has sold at auction for half a million euros - but not all items fared so well.
September 30, 2015
Sotheby's Versteigerung Abba-Flügel

Hit and miss: Famous music memorabilia under the hammer

Sotheby's in London has auctioned off instruments, documents and clothing from numerous rock and pop stars.
September 30, 20157 images
ABBA's grand piano, up for auction at Sotheby's, Copyright: picture-alliance/dpa/Sotheby's

ABBA's piano goes under the hammer

We've all heard it, now you can have it: The piano that featured on a number of ABBA's biggest hits is up for sale.
August 28, 2015
"Two Riders on the Beach" by Max Liebermann

Nazi-looted painting

Max Liebermann's famous "Two Riders on a Beach" has been auctioned by Sotheby's for over $2.9 million.
June 25, 2015
Max Liebermann's painting "Two Riders on the Beach"

Nazi-looted art under the hammer

Liebermann's "Two Riders" is up for auction at Sotheby's. Will it sell - and should it?
June 24, 2015
Gerhard Richter Abstraktes Bild 599. Copyright: EPA/ANDY RAIN

Art index

Gerhard Richter is currently the most sought-after living artist on the market.
April 29, 2015
Artist Gerhard Richter. Copyright Federico Gambarini/dpa

Richter sets new record

German artist Gerhard Richter smashes his previous auction price.
February 11, 2015
A copy of "The Bay Psalm Book" is pictured at Sotheby's Auction House in New York, November 21, 2013. Published in 1640, the Bay Psalm Book is considered the first book printed in what was then the British colonies of North America. With only eleven copies left in existence, Sotheby's expects the book to sell for up to $30 million U.S. dollars at auction on November 26. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri (UNITED STATES - Tags: MEDIA SOCIETY RELIGION) eingestellt von sti

New World's first printed book

Auction house Sotheby's has sold a book, believed to be the first printed in what is now the United States, for a record price of $14.2 million. The Bay Psalm Book is now the world's most expensive printed book.
November 27, 2013

Richter painting sets record

A painting by the German artist Gerhard Richter has been sold for around twice its estimated value. The price was also more than 10 times what the British guitarist Eric Clapton paid for the work a decade ago.
October 13, 2012
A portrait of Sachs by Warhol

Sachs art collection auctioned

Selections from an art collection that belonged to German playboy Gunter Sachs have drawn 36.6 million pounds ($56 million, 45 million euros) at a Sotheby's auction in London.
May 23, 2012
Auctioneer Henry Wyndam sells the sculpture "Walking Man I" at Sotheby's auction rooms in London

Art auction

A statue by Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti set a new price record in a Sotheby's auction.
February 5, 2010

Beethoven's Swan Song on Show

A long-lost manuscript of one of Beethoven's last works, the Great Fugue, went on display in Germany on Wednesday before going under the hammer next week at Sotheby's auction house in London.
November 24, 2005