Art Market
Maxwell Rabb and Arun Kakar
Exterior view of The Armory Show, 2025. Photo by Casey Kelbaugh. Courtesy of The Armory Show and CKA.
The Armory Show 2025 concluded on September 7th after a steady weekend of sales. The fair, which opened with its VIP day on September 4th, hosted more than 230 exhibitors from 35 countries in New York’s Javits Center. Some 50,000 visitors attended overall, according to figures from the fair.
This year’s edition of the fair was The Armory Show’s second under the full ownership of the fair conglomerate Frieze and its 31st overall. A buzzy atmosphere throughout was fueled by bold curatorial gambits, especially at the numerous booths in the fair’s Presents section dedicated to solo or dual artist presentations from emerging galleries.
“A really good indicator of the general optimism in the air is the strength of the presentations that exhibitors have brought to the fair this year,” Kyla McMillan, director of The Armory Show, told Artsy during the fair’s VIP day.
Tesfaye Urgessa, installation view in Saatchi Yates’s booth at The Armory Show, 2025. Courtesy of Saatchi Yates.
Indeed, the quality of presentations was also matched by an engaged audience, with many dealers reporting that the crowd at this year’s fair was noticeably younger than those at previous editions. “This year we witnessed a vibrant shift, with many New Yorkers, younger generations, curators, and engaged voices gathering in great numbers,” said Anne-Claudie Coric, executive director at Templon. “In such uncertain times, it is deeply invigorating to see that the appetite for art, and the integrity of artistic creation, remain wholly alive.”
This year’s fair also welcomed 55 debuting galleries including London’s Saatchi Yates, Portland-founded ILY2, and nomadic gallery Superposition. Some 20 galleries also returned to the fair after hiatuses, including heavyweight names such as Esther Schipper, Tanya Bonakdar, and White Cube.
TARWUK, installation view in White Cube’s booth at The Armory Show, 2025. © TARWUK. Photo by Monroe Dinos-Kaufman. Courtesy of White Cube.
“Returning to The Armory Show for the first time in more than 30 years—now with Kyla leading the way—was incredibly meaningful,” said Courtney Willis Blair, managing director of White Cube U.S. “Alongside strong sales, we were especially encouraged by the many thoughtful conversations we had with curators, museum leaders, and collectors alike—a testament to Kyla’s vision.”
From the fair’s VIP day, dealers reported strong momentum, particularly towards works at lower price points. Many galleries working at these levels saw brisk interest from collectors, and several reported sold-out booths, including South Africa’s WHATIFTHEWORLD and Montreal’s Pangée.
Interior view of The Armory Show, 2025. Photo by Casey Kelbaugh. Courtesy of The Armory Show and CKA.
For higher priced works, sales came at a measured pace. Reported transactions in the six-figure price range were led by two Fritz Scholder paintings, which sold for $375,000 apiece at Casterline|Goodman Gallery’s booth. Galleria Lorcan O’Neill also reported selling a work for $1 million, but it declined to specify the name of the piece.
Here, we round up the key sales reported by galleries at the Armory Show 2025.
Sold-out booths at The Armory Show 2025
Several galleries sold out their presentations at the fair. These included those with more accessibly priced works, such as:
Megan Mulrooney’s booth of works by Piper Bangs, which sold out in “the first few hours” of the VIP preview; prices ranged from $5,000 to $20,000 apiece Wolfgang Gallery’s booth of paintings by Aineki Traverso, with works ranging in price from $1,500 to $12,000 apieceWHATIFTHEWORLD’s presentation of Mia Chaplin, with works ranging in price from $5,000 to $50,000 apiecePangée’s booth of paintings by Élise Lafontaine, with prices ranging from $3,800 to $13,000 each
Top sales at The Armory Show 2025
Sean Kelly Gallery’s sales were led by a Kehinde Wiley painting, which sold for $265,000. Other reported sales included a sculpture by José Dávila for $90,000 and a “number of works” by Hugo McCloud for $35,000 each. Other sales included a painting by Lindsay Adams for $22,000 and an unspecified number of Harminder Judge works priced in the range of $9,000 to $14,000 each.
White Cube sold “several” pieces from its solo presentation of works by TARWUK, including paintings ranging from $65,000 to $100,000, as well as works on paper. Additional sales reported by the gallery included a Tunji Adeniyi-Jones painting for $85,000, a mixed-media work by Emmi Whitehorse for $150,000, and a Tracey Emin bronze for £60,000 ($81,083).
Miles McEnery Gallery sold a painting by Beverly Fishman for a price in the range of $125,000 to $150,000 and a painting by Karel Funk for a price in the price range of $70,000 to $90,000. Other sales included a work by Jacob Hashimoto for a price in the range of $70,000 to $90,000, two paintings by Patrick Wilson for prices in the range of $40,000 to $50,000 apiece, a painting by Raffi Kalenderian for a price in the range of $40,000 to $50,000, a painting by Alexander Ross for a price in the range of $40,000 to $50,000, and a painting by Whitney Bedford for a price in the range of $25,000 to $35,000.
A number of galleries also led their sales with six-figure transactions. These included:
Marc Straus sold three paintings by Antonio Santín for prices ranging from $30,000 to “over” $500,000 apiece. Buchmann Galerie sold a sculpture by Tony Cragg for “a price range of around” $250,000.Templon sold a work by Omar Ba for $180,000 and “multiple” Kehinde Wiley miniature paintings for $125,000 each. Tang Contemporary Art sold “multiple” works, including an Ai Weiwei sculpture for a price in the range of $150,000 to $180,000.
Installation view of Library Street Collective’s booth at The Armory Show, 2025. Courtesy of Library Street Collective.
Berry Campbell reported the sales of a 1952 Perle Fine painting for $125,000 and a painting by Janice Biala for $70,000. Library Street Collective sold two Gary Lang paintings for $60,000 and $110,000 apiece. The gallery also sold six Patrick Alston paintings; one for $27,000 and the rest for $2,250 each.Galerie Ron Mandos sold a work by Daniel Arsham for a price in the range of $125,000 to $135,000. It also sold a work by Jacco Olivier for a price in the range of $50,000 to $60,000. Baró Galeria sold a work by Joana Vasconcelos for €100,000 ($117,310). Saatchi Yates sold “multiple” works from their solo presentation of Tesfaye Urgessa—selected as one of Artsy’s best booths from the fair. Prices for works ranged from $135,00 to $200,000 apiece.Contemporary HEIS sold a painting by Mokuma Kikuhata for a price in the range of $100,000 to $200,000. The gallery also sold a work by Rakuko Naito for “approximately” $30,000.
More leading sales from The Armory Show 2025
Nara Roesler sold a fabric work by Sheila Hicks for $87,000 and two prints by Vik Muniz for $50,000 each. It also sold a painting by Manoela Medeiros for $20,000, a sculpture by Marcelo Silveira for $18,000, and three oil paintings by Bruno Dunley for $8,000 each.
Alisan Fine Arts sold a work by Chinyee for a price in the range of $35,000 to $40,000 and a work by Fong Chung-Ray for $40,000 to $45,000. It also sold three works by Fu Xiaotong, each for a price in the range of $10,000 to $25,000, and a work by Kelly Wang for a price in the range of $25,000 to $30,000.
Southern Guild sold two paintings by Roméo Mivekanni for prices in the range of $40,000 to $60,000 each. It also sold a painting by Mmangaliso Nzuza for a price in the range of $22,000 to $25,000, a sculpture by Madoda Fani for a price in the range of $16,000 to $20,000, a work by Ayotunde Ojo for a price in the range of $12,000 to $15,000, and a work by Usha Seejarim for a price in the range of $10,000 to $15,000.
Alzueta Gallery’s sales were led by two works by Jordi Alcaraz for a price in the range of €20,000 to €25,000 ($23,462–$29,327) each and four paintings by Guim Tió Zarraluki priced in the range of €10,000 to €22,000 ($11,731–$25,808) each. It also sold three works by Aythamy Armas for prices ranging from €15,000 to €17,500 ($17,596–$20,529) apiece, five paintings by Claudia Valsells for prices ranging from €7,000 to €18,000 ($8,211–$21,115) each, and seven paintings by Maria Yelletisch for prices in the range of €8,000 to €12,000 ($9,384–$14,077) apiece.
Cristea Roberts Gallery’s sales were led by “multiple sets” of Julian Opie’s new lenticular series priced at $60,000 each and a work by Jim Dine for $50,000. The gallery also sold “multiple complete portfolios” of collaged woodcuts by Yinka Shonibare for $25,000 each and works by Clare Woods, Idris Khan, Paula Rego, Vija Celmins, Sean Scully, Sol LeWitt, and Robert Mangold for unspecified prices.
Other transactions reported by galleries at The Armory Show 2025 included the following:
Pablo’s Birthday sold six Eckart Hahn paintings, ranging in price from $14,500 to $28,000 each. Catharine Clark Gallery sold “several” works by Marie Watts, including a textile for $28,000, two sculptures for $10,000 each, and three prints for $3,500 each. Galerie Forsblom sold a painting by Iria Leino for $58,000, a work by Kim Simonsson for $27,000, and a work by Mie Olise Kjærgaard for $22,000. Eric Firestone Gallery sold “several” Huê Thi Hoffmaster paintings for prices ranging between $25,000 and $75,000 each, “several” Colleen Herman paintings for prices ranging between $30,000 and $35,000, and two Martha Edelheit paintings for prices ranging between $30,000 and $35,000. Luis de Jesus Los Angeles sold a work by Evita Tezeno for “around” $50,000, as well as two other collages by the artist for $30,000 each.
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Maxwell Rabb
Maxwell Rabb (Max) is a writer. Before joining Artsy in October 2023, he obtained an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BA from the University of Georgia. Outside of Artsy, his bylines include the Washington Post, i-D, and the Chicago Reader. He lives in New York City, by way of Atlanta, New Orleans, and Chicago.
Arun Kakar
Arun Kakar is Artsy’s Art Market Editor.