Turner and Constable: Rivals and Originals

Tate Britain

27 November 2025 – 12 April 2026

Tate Britain presents the first major exhibition to explore the intertwined lives and legacies of Britain’s most revered landscape artists: JMW Turner (1775–1851) and John Constable (1776–1837). Radically different painters and personalities, each challenged artistic conventions of the time, developing ways of picturing the world which still resonate today. Marking the 250th anniversary years of their births, this exhibition traces the development of their careers in parallel, revealing the ways they were celebrated, criticised and pitted against each other, and how this pushed them to new and original artistic visions. It features over 190 paintings and works on paper, from Turner’s momentous 1835 The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, lent by Cleveland Museum of Art and not seen in Britain for over 60 years, to The White Horse 1819, one of Constable’s greatest artistic achievements, last exhibited in London two decades ago.

Born only a year apart - Turner in London’s crowded metropolis and Constable to a prosperous family in the Suffolk village of East Bergholt - their contrasting early lives will begin the exhibition. Turner was a commercially minded, fast-rising young star who first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1790 aged just 15 and created ambitious oil paintings like recently-discovered

 The Rising Squall, Hot Wells, from St. Vincent’s Rock, Bristol, before he turned 18. By contrast, largely self-taught Constable undertook sketching tours to create early watercolours like 

Bow Fell, Cumberland 1807 and demonstrated a fierce commitment to perfecting artistic techniques, not exhibiting at the Royal Academy until 1802. Having both emerged amid an explosion in popularity of landscape art, the two were united however, in their desire to change it for the better.

The exhibition explores how both artists developed distinct artistic identities within the competitive world of landscape art, spotlighting their methods, evolution and overlap. Constable built his reputation on the Suffolk landscapes of his childhood, opting to sketch in oils outside amid the vast views of Dedham Vale and the river Stour, which often recurred in his work. His painting box and sketching chair are displayed, with visitors able to chart the development of Constable’s skilful draughtsmanship and radical handling of paint to add ‘sparkle’. A group of Constable’s cloud studies have been brought together for the exhibition. Reflective of his belief that the sky was key to the emotional impact of a painting they are now one of the most celebrated aspects of his output and underpinned the powerful skyscapes in the artist’s monumental six-foot canvases. Late works such as 

Hampstead Heath with a Rainbow 1836 illustrate his deft interweaving of personal and historic memories.

By contrast, Turner travelled widely across Britain and Europe filling sketchbooks with quick pencil studies. This offered creative inspiration, influencing sublime Alpine scenes such as

The Passage of Mount St Gothard from the Centre of Teufels Broch (Devil’s Bridge) 1804, as well as commercial opportunities to have prints made after his watercolours. The exhibition explores how Turner developed original ways to apply paint and depict light, capturing the raw power of nature. Some of Turner’s most celebrated late works are featured, including 

Ancient Italy – Ovid Banished from Rome, first exhibited in 1838 and not shown in London in over 50 years.

By the 1830s, both Turner and Constable became recognised for taking landscape painting in bold new directions. The stark differences between their work spurred art critics to pit them against one another and to cast them as rivals. In 1831 Constable himself played into this, placing his and Turner’s work side by side at the Royal Academy exhibition. This showing of Turner’s Caligula’s Palace and Bridge next to Constable’s 

Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows, prompted a flurry of comparisons between the sun-drenched heat of Turner’s mythical Italian scene and Constable’s damply atmospheric Britain; they were ‘fire and water’. Now placed head-to-head at Tate Britain, the artists’ most distinctive and impressive paintings highlight how, despite their differences, they made landscape a genre worthy of grand canvases and prime importance.

Creators of some of the most daring and captivating works in the history of British art, Turner and Constable changed the face of landscape painting with their two competing visions, elevating the genre with their recognition of its endless potential to inspire.

​​​​​​​Images

1.J.M.W. Turner,Self Portraitc. 1799. Image courtesy of Tate.

2.J.M.W. Turner,Caligula’s Palace and Bridge,exh. 1831. Image courtesy of Tate.

3.J.M.W. Turner,Fishermen at Sea,exh. 1796. Image courtesy of Tate.

4.JMW Turner,The Burning of the Houses ofLords and Commons, 16October 1834,1835. Cleveland Museum of Art. Bequest of John L.Severance 1942.647

5.JMW Turner,Dido building Carthage, or The Rise of the CarthaginianEmpire,1815.©The National Gallery, London. All rights reserved.

6.JMW Turner,ThePassage of Mount St Gothard from the centre ofTeufels Broch (Devil’s Bridge), 1804. © Abbot Hall, Kendal (LakelandArts Trust)

.7.John Constableby Ramsay Richard Reinagle c. 1799. NPG 1786. ©National Portrait Gallery, London.8.

8. John Constable, Rainstorm over the Sea, ca.1824-1828. © Photo Royal Academy of Art. Photo: John Hammond.

9.John Constable,Cloud Study (with birds), 1821.Image Courtesy YaleCenter for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection.

10.John Constable,The White Horse,1819. © The Frick Collection,New York. Photo: Joseph Coscia Jr

11.John Constable,Hampstead Heath with a Rainbow, 1836. Image courtesy of Tate.

12.John Constable,Dedham Vale,1828.©National Galleries of Scotland. Purchased with the aid of The Cowan Smith Bequest and ArtFund, 1944. Photo: Antonia Reeve.

13.JMW Turner, Dolbadern Castle, North Wales, 1800.Photo credit ©Royal Academy of Arts, London; photographer Prudence.

14.JMW Turner, Keelmen Heaving in Coals by Moonlight, 1835.National Gallery of Art, Washington,Widener Collection.

15.John Constable.A Vivid Sunset.1820. Private Collection.

16.John Constable.The Wheatfield.1816. Image courtesy Clark Art Institute.

Lucas Cranach the Elder’s map of the Holy Land in Christopher Froschauer’s Old Testament (Zürich, 1525)

  

Caption

Lucas Cranach the Elder’s map of the Holy Land in Christopher Froschauer’s Old Testament (Zürich, 1525) in The Wren Library, Trinity College, Cambridge

Credit

The Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge

Usage Restrictions

Image only to be used editorially in relation to this specific story

The first Bible to feature a map of the Holy Land was published 500 years ago in 1525. The map was initially printed the wrong way round – showing the Mediterranean to the East – but its inclusion set a precedent which continues to shape our understanding of state borders today, a new Cambridge study argues.

 

“This is simultaneously one of publishing’s greatest failures and triumphs,” says Nathan MacDonald, Professor of the Interpretation of the Old Testament at the University of Cambridge.

“They printed the map backwards so the Mediterranean appears to the east of Palestine. People in Europe knew so little about this part of the world that no one in the workshop seems to have realised. But this map transformed the Bible forever and today most Bibles contain maps.”

In a study published today in The Journal of Theological Studies, Professor MacDonald argues that Lucas Cranach the Elder’s map, printed in Zürich, not only transformed the Bible into a Renaissance book but contributed to the way people started to think about borders.

“It has been wrongly assumed that biblical maps followed an early modern instinct to create maps with clearly marked territorial divisions,” MacDonald says. “Actually, it was these maps of the Holy Land that led the revolution.

“As more and more people gained access to Bibles from the 17th century, these maps spread a sense of how the world ought to be organised and what their place within it was. This continues to be extremely influential.”

 

The first ‘Bible map’

 

Very few of Christopher Froschauer’s 1525 Old Testament survive in libraries around the world. Trinity College Cambridge’s Wren Library cares for one of the rare survivors (see images).

Within it, Cranach’s Bible map depicts the stations of the wilderness wanderings as well as the division of the Promised Land into twelve tribal territories. These boundaries were a distinctively Christian concern, communicating a claimed right to inherit the holy sites of the Old and New Testaments. Cranach’s map followed the example of older medieval maps which divided the territory of Israel into clear strips of land. This reflected their reliance on the 1st century AD Jewish historian Josephus who simplified complex and contradictory biblical descriptions.

According to MacDonald, “Joshua 13–19 doesn’t offer an entirely coherent, consistent picture of what land and cities were occupied by the different tribes. There are several discrepancies. The map helped readers to make sense of things even if it wasn’t geographically accurate.”

A literal reading of the Bible was particularly central to the Swiss Reformation and so, MacDonald says: “It’s no surprise that the first Bible map was published in Zürich.”

MacDonald, a Fellow of St John’s College Cambridge, argues that with a growing emphasis on the literal reading of the Bible, maps helped to demonstrate that events took place in recognisable time and space.

In a Reformation world in which certain images were banned, maps of the Holy Land were permitted and became an alternative source of pious reverence.

“When they cast their eyes over Cranach’s map, pausing at Mount Carmel, Nazareth, the River Jordan and Jericho, people were taken on a virtual pilgrimage,” MacDonald says. “In their mind's eye, they travelled across the map, encountering the sacred story as they did so.”

The inclusion of Cranach’s map was, MacDonald argues, a pivotal moment in the Bible’s transformation, and deserves greater recognition. Better known changes include the move from scroll to codex, the creation of the first portable single-volume Bible (The Paris Bible) in the 13th Century; the addition of chapters and verses; the addition of new prefaces in the Reformation; and the recognition of the prophetic utterances as Hebrew poetry in the 18th Century. “The Bible has never been an unchanging book,” MacDonald says. “It is constantly transforming”.

 

A revolution in the meaning of borders

 

In medieval maps, MacDonald argues, the division of the Holy Land into tribal territories had communicated spiritual meaning: the inheritance of all things by Christians. But from the late fifteenth century, lines spread from maps of the Holy Land to maps of the modern world, and began to represent something very different: political borders. At the same time, these new ideas about political sovereignty were read back into biblical texts.

“Bible maps delineating the territories of the twelve tribes were powerful agents in the development and spread of these ideas,” MacDonald says. “A text that is not about political boundaries in a modern sense became an instance of God’s ordering of the world according to nation-states.”

“Lines on maps started to symbolise the limits of political sovereignties rather than the boundless divine promises. This transformed the way that the Bible’s descriptions of geographical space were understood.”

“Early modern notions of the nation were influenced by the Bible, but the interpretation of the sacred text was itself shaped by new political theories that emerged in the early modern period. The Bible was both the agent of change, and its object.”

 

Relevance today

 

“For many people, the Bible remains an important guide to their basic beliefs about nation states and borders,” MacDonald says. “They regard these ideas as biblically authorised and therefore true and right in a fundamental way.”

MacDonald points to a recent US Customs and Border Protection recruitment film in which a border agent quotes Isaiah 6:8 – ‘Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”’ – while flying above the US-Mexico border in a helicopter.

Professor MacDonald is concerned that so many people view borders as being straightforwardly biblical. “When I asked ChatGPT and Google Gemini whether borders are biblical, they both simply answered ‘yes’. The reality is more complex,” he says.

“We should be concerned when any group claims that their way of organising society has a divine or religious underpinning because these often simplify and misrepresent ancient texts that are making different kinds of ideological claims in very different political contexts.”

 

Reference

 

N. MacDonald, ‘Ancient Israel and the Modern Bounded State’, The Journal of Theological Studies (2025). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jts/flaf090

Sotheby's Old Master & 19th Century Paintings Dec 3 Updated: Many more works

Hans Eworth, Portrait of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk (1538-1578) Estimate: £2-3m Coming to auction for the very first time, Hans Eworth’s Portrait of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk (1538–1572) is one of the most significant Tudor portraits remaining in private hands. Painted in 1562 by Eworth - the leading English painter after Hans Holbein - it depicts Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, one of the most powerful noblemen at the court of Elizabeth I. As the only Duke in the realm and hereditary Earl Marshal, Norfolk oversaw all royal ceremonies and heraldic affairs. A second cousin to the Queen and heir to one of England’s greatest dynasties, he was the son of Henry Howard, the ‘Poet Earl of Surrey’, and the grandson of the formidable 3rd Duke of Norfolk. Yet even his towering status could not shield him from political peril: he fell from favour and was executed for treason in 1572 - just ten years after this portrait was painted - following a conspiracy to replace Elizabeth I with Mary, Queen of Scots. The portrait forms part of a unique pendant pairing with that of Norfolk’s second wife, Margaret Audley, Duchess of Norfolk (Audley End). Echoing the format of a diptych, together, the two works present a remarkably ambitious conception in English art of the period: two sitters united by a continuous tapestry background bearing their armorials. Born in Antwerp and active in London from the 1540s, Hans Eworth emerged as England’s leading portraitist in the years following Holbein’s death. Particularly popular at the court of Mary I and among her supporters, his work demonstrates meticulous handling, subtle modelling, and a masterful treatment of costume and texture - revealing both his Netherlandish training and his consummate assimilation of Tudor courtly style. 

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn, Saint John on Patmos, half-length, his folded hands resting on the cover of a book, a palm tree behind him and his emblem of an eagle to the right, his head based on the features of Titus van Rijn Estimate: £5-7m Recently rediscovered, St John on Patmos by Rembrandt depicts Saint John in exile on the Greek island of Patmos, seated with his hands resting on a book, a palm tree behind him, and the saint’s emblem, the eagle, at his side. Unseen by the public for more than a century, the painting was last exhibited at the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague in 1923 and subsequently disappeared from public view, known only through a black-and-white photograph until its reemergence in 2024. By 1926 the work was in the collection of German industrialist Friedrich “Fritz” Thyssen and descended in his family until recently. Its rediscovery marks the first time the work has been publicly seen in over 100 years. The composition draws on the features of Rembrandt’s son Titus, transforming the work into a portrait historié - a portrait in which a real person is depicted as a historical, mythological, or biblical figure. Technical analysis and careful cleaning have revealed the confident wet-in-wet brushwork, the evolution of the composition, and the vibrant immediacy of Rembrandt’s late style, capturing both the spiritual presence of the saint and the artist’s inventive hand. First recorded in a 1760 sale in The Hague, it later passed through the celebrated Leipzig collection of Gottfried Winckler, was misattributed in early twentieth-century New York sales – its full history and authorship having only recently be revaluated. 

 Pieter Brueghel the Younger, The Census at Bethlehem, Circa 1604 Estimate: £3-5m Census at Bethlehem by Pieter Brueghel the Younger has lain out of public view for nearly than forty years, and no example of this subject has appeared at auction since 1980. At nearly 170 by 120 centimetres, it is one of the largest known depictions of this well-known subject and one of only a few versions by Brueghel the Younger remaining in private hands – the majority of the known examples lie in museums. The composition derives from The Census at Bethlehem painted in 1566 by the artist’s father, Pieter Bruegel the Elder (Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels), one of the most revered works of the Northern Renaissance. Although Brueghel the Younger was only a child at his father’s death, he devoted much of his career to preserving and reinterpreting these masterful inventions, infusing them with his own vivid palette, meticulous detail, and acute observation of daily life. In this version, Brueghel the Younger enlivens the biblical scene within a bustling Flemish winter landscape: villagers queue to register for the census, children skate, throw snowballs, and drag sledges across the frozen ground, while drinkers gather around a makeshift tavern carved into an oak tree. At the centre of the activity, the Holy Family passes quietly through the crowd - an understated yet profoundly moving nod to the Nativity. In its seamless blending of the sacred and the everyday, the painting exemplifies Brueghel the Younger’s enduring ability to capture the divine within the rhythms of ordinary life. 

The Master of the Sherborne Almshouse Triptych, A triptych with the five miracles of Christ Estimate: £2.5-3.5m Recent scientific and academic research has revealed the remarkable significance of this intriguing altarpiece, shedding new light on its history. The early Flemish masterpiece spent much of its life hidden in an almshouse in Sherborne. Following these new discoveries, proceeds from its sale will go toward the almshouse’s core mission: providing care and support to those in need. Although the source of the original commission and the identity of the painter remain uncertain, recent scientific investigations and scholarly research have established that the perfectly preserved altarpiece was painted in Brussels around 1480-90. In remarkable condition and executed in vibrantly coloured oil, the triptych depicts – in captivating detail – the Five Miracles of Christ, at the centre of which is the raising of Lazarus. 

Willem van de Velde the Elder, Dutch shipping under way in a moderate breeze from the anchorage off Vlieland Estimate: £1.2 - 1.8m Depicting the coastal bustle of a convoy of ships off the north-east coast of the Netherlands, this rare and highly detailed penschilderij (penpainting) by Willem van de Velde the Elder exemplifies a uniquely Dutch genre that flourished in the late seventeenth century. Although he did not invent the technique, Van de Velde perfected and popularised it, and it is for this that he is celebrated today. Extremely labour-intensive, the method allowed for an extraordinary level of precision and nuance, capturing both the ships themselves and the vibrant maritime activity around them with remarkable clarity. In works such as this, Van de Velde elevated maritime draughtsmanship to the status of high art, and early patrons included Leopold de’ Medici, who acquired six examples via his Amsterdam agent Pieter Blaeu. This work is one of just five penschilderijen by Van de Velde to appear on the market this century. Fewer than 100 are known to survive, the overwhelming majority are today housed in major public collections such as the Rijksmuseum, and the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. 

Sir Peter Paul Rubens, The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne adored by Saints of the House of Habsburg Estimate: £2-3M Long thought to exist but never before identified, Peter Paul Rubens’ The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne adored by Saints of the House of Habsburg is a major rediscovery from the artist’s mature Antwerp period. Until now, the composition was known only through a workshop copy in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, long thought to be a model for an engraving. The composition brings together a remarkable assembly of saints connected to the House of Habsburg: King Stephen of Hungary kneels at the left, Saint Casimir of Poland and Lithuania on the right. 

 

Sir Peter Paul Rubens, Portrait study of an old man Estimate: £1 - 1.5m Portrait Study of an Old Man presents a compelling, close-held study of age and presence, the sitter’s penetrating gaze revealing Rubens’ unparalleled gift for capturing both character and psychological depth. For generations, the portrait was traditionally believed to represent Thomas “Old Tom” Parr (1482–1635), the Englishman once - though erroneously - reputed to have lived to the age of 152. The legend lent the painting a near-mythic aura: Parr’s supposed feats of longevity, his late-life remarriage at 122, fathering a child past 100, and his summons to London by Charles I, were long thought to resonate in the sitter’s weathered features. Recent scholarship has decisively separated the painting from this persistent folklore. Rather than a likeness of Parr, the work is now dated securely to Rubens’ Antwerp period of around 1615–19 - several decades before Parr’s death - restoring it as an autonomous, meditation on age, painted solely by Rubens himself. The portrait’s importance within Rubens’ studio is underscored by a contemporary copy by his pupil Anthony van Dyck, now housed in the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg. 

Frans Hals, Portrait of Verdonck brandishing a jawbone Estimate: £800,000 - 1.2m Newly brought to light, and previously known only through a blackand-white photograph, this spirited Portrait of Pieter Verdonck, brandishing a jawbone, sheds fresh light on Frans Hals’ stylistic evolution during the 1620s. Verdonck, a notorious troublemaker in Haarlem, is immortalised with a twinkle in his eye and a touch of irony: the biblical jawbone of an ass is replaced by that of a cow. The sitter’s mischievous energy connects Hals’ portraiture to his tronie-like studies of comic and theatrical characters such as Peeckelhaering - the jester named after pickled herring - and Malle Babbe, the so-called witch confined to Haarlem’s house of correction in 1653. Such exuberant figures were known as Gek - the Dutch word for “mad” or “foolish,” but with a tinge of admiration - a term that, intriguingly, would evolve into our modern word “geek.” 

Albrecht Dürer, Adam and Eve Estimate £250,000 - 450,000 An early impression of the exceptionally rare second state (of three), before the reworking of the tree, this print has never before appeared at auction, and compares favourably with the celebrated Malcolm impression at the British Museum. This work encapsulates one of the most exceptional moments in Renaissance printmaking. In Adam and Eve, Dürer achieved a synthesis of technical brilliance, classical proportion and naturalistic observation that is unmatched elsewhere in his printed oeuvre. The work was the culmination of a four-year project, documented with unprecedented thoroughness in a sequence of studies and proportional analyses. Its origins can be traced to the transformative arrival of Jacopo de’ Barbari in Nuremberg in 1500, whose introduction of the Vitruvian canon ignited Dürer’s lifelong pursuit of the ideal human form. Adam and Eve - humanity’s first and most perfectly proportioned figures - provided the ultimate testing ground for this ambition, resulting in one of the defining achievements of his career. 

Hans Bol, Panoramic landscape with a tower and a river in the foreground and a view of Antwerp and the River Schelde in the distance £600,000 - 800,000 Hans Bol is celebrated today for his miniature paintings and finely detailed mythological drawings, yet in his own time his reputation rested on works painted in watercolour or tempera on linen - a highly unusual technique, almost unique to his native Mechelen. Because of their fragile nature, only a very small number have survived. This exceptionally wellpreserved example, in near-pristine condition, may be one of the last paintings Bol executed in this medium. The painting presents a sweeping panorama of Antwerp across the River Schelde, its fortified skyline rising above meadows and farmland. In the foreground, peasants gather outside a rustic inn, while an elegant company embarks on boats opposite, the river forming a gentle divide between the rustic and the refined. At the lower right, a drunken peasant brandishing a sword gestures toward Bol’s signature and date, a playful self-reference that reveals the artist’s wit and humanity. Painted a year after his admission to Antwerp’s painters’ guild, the work celebrates his adopted city while reflecting resilience following his flight from war-torn Mechelen. __________________________________________________________________________ 

Icons: Back to Madison Warhol, Mondrian, Still, Basquiat, de Kooning, Banksy

This December, Sotheby’s will present Icons: Back to Madison, a first-of-its-kind exhibition bringing together some of the most iconic works ever sold under our banner—just one month after opening its new worldwide headquarters at the historic Breuer building. From 13 – 21 December, New York will welcome a remarkable gathering of masterpieces from both private and museum collections, many of which will be on public view for the first time in decades. Prior to its New York debut, Icons will be presented from 2 – 6 December as part of the inaugural Collectors’ Week in Abu Dhabi—a dynamic new program of exhibitions, auctions, and events celebrating the city’s emergence as a global hub for art and culture. The Abu Dhabi presentation will feature a carefully curated selection of highlights in dialogue with the New York exhibition. Some works will be showcased in both cities, while others will be exhibited exclusively in one location, offering visitors unique perspectives on this extraordinary assemblage of works presented by Etihad Airways. 

The exhibition is a landmark “Back to Madison” moment, honoring Sotheby’s U.S. legacy: after acquiring the American auction house Parke-Bernet in 1964, Sotheby’s roots in New York were firmly established, just up the street from the Breuer at 980 Madison. This milestone is celebrated with a retrospective of extraordinary objects sold over decades, highlighting Sotheby’s role in shaping collecting history. Icons spans more than six decades of landmark sales, encompassing African and Oceanic, Jewelry, European modernism, postwar American art, and contemporary breakthroughs. 

From record-setting canvases to pivotal works by John Singer Sargent, Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler, David Hockney, Barkley L. Hendricks, and others, the exhibition showcases paintings and objects that transformed artists’ careers, defined auction history, and shaped collecting for generations. 

Highlights include Jean-Michel Basquiat’s explosive Untitled (1982), which set a record as the most expensive work by an American artist; Andy Warhol’s legendary Shot Orange Marilyn, immortalized by the dramatic act of violence that took place in his Factory and its landmark 1998 sale; Jasper Johns’ False Start, a groundbreaking canvas that redefined the relationship between language and perception; and Willem de Kooning’s Interchange, an indisputable masterpiece from his pivotal transitional period when he fractured composition and achieved his mature style of abstraction—all four of which are made possible by Kenneth C. Griffin. Further highlights include Banksy’s self-shredding Girl Without Balloon, the only artwork ever created in an auction room; the “Guennol Lioness,” a roughly 5,000-year-old Mesopotamian sculpture that remains the most valuable antiquity ever sold; the Lake Sentani Sculpture of a Female Ancestor, sold from the legendary collection of Helena Rubinstein in 1966; Clyfford Still’s 1949 canvas, whose sale helped establish the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver; and Francis Bacon’s Three Studies for Portrait of Lucian Freud, a quintessential and intimate portrayal of one of the most significant friendships in twentieth-century art—this painting, among other loans, made possible by YAGEO Foundation Collection, Taiwan.

 In total, the exhibition comprises more than 25 works across both locations, with an estimated value approaching $2 billion, offering a once-in-a-generation opportunity to see these masterpieces together. 

The exhibition is drawn from Sotheby’s forthcoming book with Phaidon, Icons: 100 Extraordinary Objects from Sotheby’s History, which traces the stories behind 100 of the most celebrated objects to have passed through Sotheby’s—from SUE, the 67-millionyear-old Tyrannosaurus rex, to Maurizio Cattelan’s infamous banana. The book illuminates how objects achieve iconic status, whether through exceptional quality, rarity, provenance, or remarkable stories—like a 1933 Double Eagle coin recovered after 60 years on the Most Wanted list, or a Giacomo Herman Roman Baroque cabinet rediscovered in a pizza parlor. Icons: 100 Extraordinary Objects from Sotheby’s History is available for pre-order now and goes on sale globally 7 January 2026. More information here. Many of the works in the book will be featured in the exhibition, offering an unparalleled opportunity to experience these historic objects firsthand. In bringing these works together, Sotheby’s transforms the Breuer into more than an auction house—it becomes a living testament to the enduring power of art, collectors, and culture, and a celebration of what it truly means to be iconic.

IMAGES

Andy Warhol Shot Orange Marilyn, 1964 Synthetic polymer and silkscreen ink on canvas, 40 × 40 in. (101.6 × 101.6 cm) Sotheby’s New York, May 14, 1998, lot 16 Estimate $4,000,000–6,000,000

 Sold for $17,327,500 Andy Warhol’s Shot Orange Marilyn (1964), famously marked by a bullet hole from an unapproved piece of performance art at the Factory, sold for $17.3 million at Sotheby’s in 1998, more than quadrupling the artist’s previous record and becoming one of the highest-priced contemporary paintings of its time. The work transforms Marilyn Monroe into a luminous, reproduced icon, capturing both celebrity and the mass-media culture that defines her image. Its sale helped solidify Warhol’s market dominance, cementing the Marilyn series as a defining motif of Pop art and a symbol of the artist’s enduring cultural impact. To be exhibited in New York Made possible by Kenneth C. Griffin 

Piet Mondrian Composition No. II, 1930 Oil on canvas, 20⅛ × 20⅛ in. (51 × 51 cm) Sotheby’s New York, November 14, 2022, lot 105 Sold for $51,000,000 

A landmark of Piet Mondrian’s radical vision, Composition No. II stands as a rare masterpiece from the artist’s pivotal 1929–31 series—one of only three works to feature the commanding red square at upper right and the sole example remaining in private hands. Revered for its exquisite balance, chromatic precision, and impeccable provenance, the painting reasserted its art-historical significance when it achieved $51 million at Sotheby’s, reclaiming Mondrian’s all-time auction record. It remains a defining emblem of modern abstraction and of the artist’s enduring cultural influence. To be exhibited in Abu Dhabi and New York Made possible by YAGEO Foundation Collection, Taiwan 

Clyfford Still 1949-A-No. 1, 1949 Oil on canvas, 93 × 79 in. (236.2 × 200.7 cm) Sotheby’s New York, November 9, 2011, lot 11 Estimate $25,000,000–35,000,000 Sold for $61,682,500 Clyfford Still’s 1949-A-No. 1 shattered the artist’s previous auction record when it sold for $61.7 million in 2011, nearly tripling his previous benchmark. Towering over eight feet, the painting exemplifies Still’s masterful use of color and texture, creating a profound emotional impact through pure abstraction. The sale not only highlighted the work’s significance within his oeuvre but also helped fund the Clyfford Still Museum, ensuring public access to the majority of his life’s work. To be exhibited in New York

Jean-Michel Basquiat Untitled, 1982 Acrylic, spray paint, and oil stick on canvas, 72 ⅛ × 68 ⅛ in. (183.2 × 173 cm) Sotheby’s New York, May 18, 2017, lot 24 Sold for $110,487,500 Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Untitled (1982) is a monumental, visceral work that announced his arrival on the New York art scene, fusing graphic imagery, text, and raw gesture into a powerful visual language. When it sold at Sotheby’s in 2017 for $110.5 million, it set a new record for the artist and for any American painting, nearly doubling his previous auction record. The work remains a defining masterpiece of Basquiat’s early oeuvre, celebrated for its intensity, immediacy, and enduring cultural impact. To be exhibited in New York Made possible by Kenneth C. Griffin.

Willem de Kooning Interchange, 1955 Oil on canvas, 79 by 69 in. (200.7 by 175.3 cm.), Sotheby’s November 8, 1989, lot 16 Estimate $4,000,000–6,000,000 Sold for $20,680,000 Willem de Kooning’s Interchange (1955) achieved near-mythic status when it sold for $20.7 million at Sotheby’s in 1989, shattering the artist’s previous record and becoming the most expensive contemporary artwork at the time. The painting marks a pivotal transition in de Kooning’s practice, blending his late figuration with emerging abstraction in a series now held largely by major institutions. To be exhibited in New York Made possible by Kenneth C. Griffin

Jasper Johns False Start, 1959 Oil on canvas, 67 ½ × 53 in. (171.5 × 134.7 cm) Sotheby’s New York, November 11, 1988, lot 34 Estimate $4,000,000–5,000,000 Sold for $17,050,000 Jasper Johns’s False Start (1958) achieved $17.05 million at Sotheby’s in 1988, setting a new record for the artist and becoming the second-highest price ever paid at auction in the U.S. at the time. The painting, with its ironic, dissonant use of color, words and abstract fields, marks a pivotal moment in Johns’s career, challenging perception and redefining the possibilities of American painting. Its record-setting sale underscored the international significance of the New York School and remains a landmark in the history of American art. To be exhibited in New York Made possible by Kenneth C. Griffin

BanksyGirl Without Balloon, 2018Spray paint and acrylic on canvas, remote-controlled shredding,in artist’s frame, 60 × 30 ⅞ × 7 in. (142 × 78 × 18 cm)Sotheby’s London, October 14, 2021, lot 7 Estimate £4,000,000–6,000,000 ($5,474,203–8,211,304) Sold for £18,582,000 ($25,430,410) Banksy’s work famously self-shredded during its 2018 Sotheby’s auction, thanks to a hidden mechanism in its frame, leaving the canvas half-destroyed and instantly transforming it into a live performance. The stunt critiqued the relationship between art and monetary value while creating a global media sensation. In 2021, it sold again for a record-breaking £18.5 million, cementing its status as a singular conceptual masterpiece. To be exhibited in Abu Dhabi and New York

Christie's Old Masters Evening Sale on 2 December

 

Property of The Trustees of The Proby 1972 Heirlooms Settlement | GERRIT DOU (LEIDEN 1613-1675) | The Flute Player | Estimate: £2,000,000-3,000,000

 Gerrit Dou's first depiction of a musician, The Flute Player, will lead Christie's Old Masters Evening Sale on 2 December during Classic Week in London (estimate: £2,000,000-3,000,000). Dou, like his teacher Rembrandt, was among the most successful Dutch artists of the seventeenth century, attracting patrons such as Cosimo III de' Medici, and with his works presented to Charles II of England. An early masterpiece from his relatively small and highly sought-after oeuvre, this vanitas – a still-life charged with symbolic meaning – alludes to music, learning and the brevity of life. Painted with microscopic detail and an enamel-like finish that conceals all trace of the brush, it exemplifies the extraordinary technical precision that made Dou one of the most acclaimed painters of his age. The picture has been in a celebrated English collection for 125 years, having belonged to William Proby, 5th Earl of Carysfort (1836–1909) at Elton Hall by 1900, and has since passed by descent.

Maja Markovic, Head of Old Masters Evening Sale, Christie's London: “The unwavering interest in Dou's paintings across the centuries is confirmed by this work. Its appearance on the market for the first time in well over a century offers a new generation of collectors the opportunity to acquire an early masterpiece by an artist whose extraordinary command of the brush continues to mesmerise viewers today just as it did connoisseurs four centuries ago.”

SUBJECT 

Although musical instruments appear as still-life elements in a number of Gerrit Dou's early works, The Flute Player is his earliest known representation of a musician. Conceived as a vanitas, the painting moves between intellect and sensuality: music is evoked as both a liberal art and a fleeting pleasure, while the hourglass, violin, globes and books allude to human ambition measured against the passage of time. These themes resonated strongly in seventeenth-century Leiden, where Dou's refined pictorial language found a scholarly audience attuned to such symbolism. Characteristically, the sitter returns the viewer's gaze, establishing an intimate, almost conversational exchange. This quiet act of acknowledgement — understated yet intentional — is one of the hallmarks of Dou's art and sets him apart from many of his contemporaries.

PATRONAGE

Gerrit Dou's extraordinary technique, refined pictorial language and comparatively small output ensured that his paintings commanded princely sums in his own lifetime. His patrons included Cosimo III de' Medici, Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria and the Dutch States General, who acquired three of his works as diplomatic gifts for Charles II upon his accession in 1660. Pieter Spiering, envoy of the Swedish crown in The Hague, even paid Dou five hundred guilders a year simply for the right of first refusal on his paintings. The sustained admiration for his art in the centuries that followed is demonstrated by this picture, which passed through the hands of some of the foremost British collectors of the nineteenth century, including William Proby, 5th Earl of Carysfort, in whose family it has remained.

CHRISTIE'S AND GERRIT DOU 

Christie's achieved the world auction record for Gerrit Dou in 2023 with A young woman holding a hare with a boy at a window, which achieved $7 million in the Rothschild Masterpieces sale.

ARTEMISIA GENTILESCHI (ROME 1593-AFTER 1654 NAPLES)

A Woman presenting her Child to Saint Blaise

I

• GBP 400,000– GBP 600,00
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

• 
  
  SIR PETER PAUL RUBENS (SIEGEN 1577-1640 ANTWERP)

  The Martyrdom of Saint Paul – a modello

  • Estimate
    GBP 800,000 – GBP 1,200,000
  • 
    
  
  
• 
  

• 
  
  BERNARDO BELLOTTO (VENICE 1721-1780 WARSAW)

  Venice, The Grand Canal looking North from the Rialto Bridge

  
  Estimate
  GBP 1,000,000 – GBP 1,500,000
•