LONDON.- Willem de Kooning emerged as the star of Sotheby's Contemporary Evening Auction in London on October 15, with a 1977 painting fetching £9.8 million ($12.9 million), the highest price ever paid at auction in Europe for a work by the American artist. The sale brought in a total of £46 million ($61 million), adding to a particularly strong year for the auction house in the British capital.

The result offered another indication of the enduring appeal of established names in the international art market, with works by Gerhard Richter, Mark Rothko, David Hockney, and Andy Warhol attracting some of the evening's highest bids. Collectors also showed considerable interest in German artists, particularly Georg Baselitz and Albert Oehlen.

De Kooning's Untitled, painted in 1977, led the evening comfortably, selling within its presale estimate of £8 million to £12 million. The result established a new European auction benchmark for the artist, whose expressive approach to abstraction remains among the defining achievements of postwar American painting.

The painting was followed by Gerhard Richter's monumental Abstraktes Bild from 1992, which achieved £6.7 million ($8.9 million), against an estimate of £6 million to £8 million. Richter's abstract paintings have long occupied a prominent place in the upper reaches of the contemporary art market, and the latest result reinforced the continued demand for major examples of his work.

A late work on paper by Mark Rothko also attracted significant interest, selling for £3.8 million ($5 million). Created during the same period as the artist's celebrated paintings for the Rothko Chapel in Houston, the untitled composition carried an estimate of £3 million to £4 million. Its appearance offered collectors an opportunity to acquire a work associated with the final years of one of Abstract Expressionism's most influential figures.

David Hockney provided another important highlight. His Henry Reading achieved £2.8 million ($3.7 million), reaching the upper end of its £2.2 million to £2.8 million estimate. Yet it was another Hockney work that produced one of the evening's most striking results.

The artist's 10th - 22nd June 2021, Water Lilies in the Pond with Pots of Flowers, a work created on an iPad, sold for £1.9 million ($2.5 million), almost three times its high estimate of £650,000. The price established a new auction high for an iPad work by Hockney, reflecting collectors' growing recognition of digital works within the artist's wider practice.

Hockney has spent years exploring the possibilities of digital drawing, using technological tools alongside traditional painting and printmaking. The result suggests that collectors are increasingly willing to place significant financial value on this aspect of his artistic production.

Andy Warhol, another familiar presence in major evening auctions, was represented by two works that performed within expectations. Four Marilyns (Reversal Series) sold for £2.7 million ($3.6 million), while Portrait of Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe brought £1.5 million ($2 million). Both results demonstrated the continuing appeal of Warhol's imagery, from Hollywood celebrity to historical cultural figures.

German postwar painting was another strong component of the sale. Georg Baselitz's P.D. Idol achieved £2.4 million ($3.2 million), exceeding its £2 million high estimate. Another work by the artist, Die Geißelung, sold for £2.2 million ($2.9 million), also above its upper estimate. The latter was secured by Elisabeth Lobkowicz, head of Sotheby's Old Master Paintings Department in London, who was bidding by telephone on behalf of a collector.

Albert Oehlen's Schwindel, appearing at auction for the first time, realised £1.7 million ($2.2 million), within its estimate of £1.2 million to £1.8 million. Together, the Baselitz and Oehlen results underscored the international market's continued interest in German painting.

Beyond the individual works, the evening's figures offered Sotheby's an opportunity to highlight the strength of its London business. The £46 million total fell within the sale's presale estimate of £39.5 million to £55.4 million, although the estimates exclude buyer's premiums and other applicable premiums included in the reported results.

According to the auction house, its London sales of Modern and Contemporary art have now reached £598 million ($793 million) in 2026, more than double the amount recorded at the same point last year and the highest year-to-date total since 2015.

Across all collecting categories, Sotheby's London auctions have generated more than $1 billion so far this year, their highest year-to-date level since 2018.

Alex Branczik, Sotheby's Chairman of Modern and Contemporary Art for Europe and Asia, attributed the performance to the company's long-term commitment to London as an international art market center.

"This evening's results, which bring our running total for the year in London to over $1 billion, are a testament of our belief in the city all year round," Branczik said. "Our commitment to the London market extends far beyond a single week: we continue to champion the city as a cornerstone of the global art market throughout the year."

The auction took place during Frieze Week, when London's galleries, museums, fairs, and auction houses attract collectors and art professionals from around the world. Sotheby's reported that 7,850 visitors attended its seven-day Frieze Week exhibition, illustrating the public interest surrounding the works offered for sale.

The contemporary auction followed Sotheby's Modern British and Irish art sales on October 14, which generated £11.6 million ($15.4 million). The company also scheduled a Contemporary Day Auction and a dedicated David Hockney sale for October 16.

The evening produced several notable benchmarks beyond de Kooning and Hockney, including an auction record for a work on paper by British painter Michael Andrews, although Sotheby's announcement did not specify the work or its final price.

For a market that continues to be closely watched for signs of shifts in collector confidence, the London results suggest that exceptional works by internationally recognized artists remain capable of attracting substantial sums. At the same time, the strongest prices were concentrated among established figures whose reputations have been built over decades.

With de Kooning, Richter, and Rothko occupying the top three positions, the auction demonstrated the continued importance of postwar abstraction at the highest levels of the market. Hockney's digital work, meanwhile, offered a different perspective on collecting, showing how technological experimentation can command prices comparable to those of more traditional media.

Taken together, the results gave Sotheby's a substantial boost to its annual London totals and reinforced the city's position as a major destination for international art sales, extending well beyond the concentrated activity of Frieze Week.