Which Artists Are Dominating the Auction Market?

This article is part of the Artnet Intelligence Report: Year Ahead 2026. Drawing on in-depth analysis of the past year’s market performance, the latest edition offers a data-driven snapshot of the art world today—from recent auction results to the artists shaping the global conversation.

European Old Masters

JMW Turner, Ehrenbreitstein, or The Bright Stone of Honour and the Tomb of Marceau, from Byron’s ‘Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage’. Courtesy of Christie’s Images, Ltd. 2026.

Absent from 2024’s list, J.M.W. Turner stormed his way to fourth place last year, helped mightily by Ehrenbreitstein, or The Bright Stone of Honour and the Tomb of Marceau, from Byron’s ‘Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage,’ which sold in November at an evening sale of 20th-century work at Christie‘s in New York for $11.9 million.

Impressionist and Modern

René Magritte, Le Jockey perdu (1942). Courtesy Sotheby’s.

René Magritte‘s Le Jockey perdu (1942) went for $12.3 million at Sotheby‘s in New York in November, just above its $12 million top estimate. Once owned by the storied artist and collector William N. Copley, it had most recently been in the collection of Matthew and Carolyn Bucksbaum.

Postwar

David Hockney, Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy (1968). Courtesy of Christie’s Images, Ltd. 2026.

David Hockney held firm in third place thanks in part to the $44.3 million result for his 1968 painting Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy at Christie‘s in New York in November. Astonishingly, it had failed to sell against a $600,000 reserve back in 1985 at Sotheby‘s in New York.

Contemporary 

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Crowns (Peso Neto) (1981). Courtesy of Sotheby’s.

Jean-Michel Basquiat grabbed gold with a total sales figure more than four times that of second-place Yoshitomo Nara. His Crowns (Peso Neto) (1981), was the top lot of the year in the Contemporary category, selling for $48.3 million at Sotheby‘s New York in November.

Ultra-Contemporary 

Matthew Wong, The Gentle Sea (2017). Courtesy of Sotheby’s.

Just six lots were enough to secure Matthew Wong a place on the Ultra-Contemporary top-10 list. Sold twice by the Karma gallery, his Gentle Sea (2017) was estimated at $1.2 million to $1.8 million but finished at $2.37 million at Sotheby‘s New York.

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