• Join Puck

    Directly Supporting Authors

    A new economic model in which writers are also partners in the business.

    Personalized Subscriptions

    Customize your settings to receive the newsletters you want from the authors you follow.

    Stay in the Know

    Connect directly with Puck talent through email and exclusive events.

  • What is puck? Newsletters Authors Podcasts Events Gift Puck Careers

Sotheby’s Day Sales Smoke Signals

News and notes on the revealing trends surrounding Sotheby’s latest round of day sales, in which 93 percent of the 350 lots found buyers. Is this another sign of a market boom?

Sotheby's
With so many lots, it’s hard for the sales force to fully cover all potential buyers, so when we see near-record sales totals and a sell-through rate in the 90s, it’s worth taking notice. Those figures are usually a sign of a market boom. Photos: Courtesy of Sotheby’s
Marion Maneker
May 17, 2026

Join Puck to listen to this article

I know one secondary-market dealer who spent nine hours at Sotheby’s day sale on Friday and ended up bringing home nothing. That tells you a little bit about the state of the art market right now. The big-money, attention-soaked evening sales at Sotheby’s last week had plenty of strong performances, but a number of observers attending the live auction complained to me that the room felt dead. That dichotomy—strong performance on paper but mixed vibes in person—was likely the result of two different factors.