Art Market Explainers | How Auctions Work

Masterworks Research · October 2026

Every lot in a major sale hangs on a public wall for a week before the gavel falls. Admission is free, the specialists answer questions, and most people never go.

An auction preview, which the houses call the presale exhibition, is the public showing of every lot in a sale, usually held in the auction house's own galleries for about a week to ten days before the auction. In New York, Sotheby's, Christie's, Phillips and Bonhams hang their sales in their own buildings, and anyone can walk in, look at a painting estimated at $20 million from a foot away and ask the specialist who priced it why. For the November 2026 evening sales, Sotheby's exhibition opens on November 7 ahead of its Now & Contemporary Evening Auction on November 16, and Phillips shows its evening sale from November 7 until the sale on November 18 [1][2].

For an investor, the preview is the one point in the art market where the information is open to everyone. The catalogue tells you what the house wants you to know, and the wall, the condition report and ten minutes with a specialist tell you most of the rest.

What You Need to Know

  • Previews are free. Sotheby's New York says it is "free and open to the public," and its live auctions admit the public with no fee or obligation to bid [3][4].
  • Photographs flatten scale, surface and condition, and the houses sell every lot "as is," so a buyer is expected to inspect or rely on a condition report [4][5].
  • A catalogue symbol beside the lot number tells you whether the house or a third party has guaranteed the sale [5][6].
  • Premium lots at Sotheby's need a registration application three working days before the sale, and the buyer's premium at the big three houses now starts at 28% or 29% of the hammer price [6][7][8][9].

1. When do auction previews run, and where?

The exhibition opens about a week before the first evening sale and closes on the day of the sale or the day before. Sotheby's November 2026 sales hang at the Breuer building, 945 Madison Avenue, from November 7, open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday [1][10]. Phillips shows its Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale at 432 Park Avenue from November 7 to 18 [2]. Christie's has scheduled its 20th Century Evening Sale for November 17 and its 21st Century Evening Sale for November 19 at Rockefeller Center, and had not posted viewing times as of October 6 [11]. Its May 2026 exhibition was free and ran through May 18, the start of that sale week [12]. Bonhams lists viewing hours for each sale at its New York galleries at 111 West 57th Street [13].

Highlights travel first. In October 2026 Sotheby's is showing works in Taipei, London, Hong Kong, Paris and Los Angeles, and Phillips in London, Los Angeles and Paris, before the full sales are hung in New York [2][10].

2. What should you look at in person?

Look at scale first. A canvas that reads as intimate on a phone can be eight feet wide, which decides where it can hang and what it costs to ship and insure. Then the surface: impasto, varnish, the edges of the canvas and the corners, where damage and old repairs tend to show. Ask the staff to help if you want to see the back. Sotheby's asks visitors to request assistance before handling any lot, and the labels, stamps and stretcher on the reverse often record where a work has been [4].

Condition moves price, and the houses put the burden of checking it on the buyer. Christie's New York conditions say lots are sold "as is" and that condition reports are not an alternative to examining a lot in person [5]. A preview is the cheapest examination you will ever get.

3. How do you read the catalogue entry?

The estimate is the house's published range, and it excludes the buyer's premium [4]. The reserve, the confidential minimum, cannot be higher than the low estimate at Sotheby's or Christie's [5][6]. We explain how specialists set the range, and how often the hammer lands outside it, in how auction estimates are set.

The symbol beside the lot number tells you about the money behind the sale. At Christie's, º means the house has guaranteed the seller a minimum price, and º◆ means a third party has agreed to an irrevocable bid, so the lot will sell [5]. At Sotheby's, ○ marks guaranteed property, ⋑ an irrevocable bid, and ✧ a premium lot that needs extra registration [6]. A guarantor may keep bidding above its own commitment, and a guarantee can be added after the catalogue is printed, through a notice on the lot page or an announcement in the saleroom [5][6]. We cover the economics in the guarantee system.

The house decides where each lot sits. Specialists choose which works go into the evening sale and in what order, and lots are sold in catalogue order, so the specialist can tell you why a work sits at lot 8 and not lot 30 [4]. Below the estimate sit the provenance, the list of past owners, then the exhibition history and the literature, meaning the books and catalogues that reproduce the work. A gap of decades in the provenance, or a work that has never been exhibited, is a question to ask.

4. How do you request a condition report?

Ask on the lot page or email the specialist named on the sale page. Christie's provides condition reports free of charge, and Sotheby's provides them "solely as a convenience," with the online images treated as part of the report [4][5]. A report on a painting usually notes whether the canvas has been lined, whether there is retouching visible under ultraviolet light, and the state of the paint surface and frame. Ask for the ultraviolet images if they exist. Request it before you visit and compare it with the wall.

5. How do you talk to a specialist?

Each sale page lists the specialists by name with their contact details. Sotheby's page for its November Now & Contemporary Evening Auction lists seven specialists and staff by email, plus a bids line, and Phillips names its head of sale with a direct number [1][2].

Ask which comparable sales support the estimate, whether the work has been offered before and what happened, what the condition report leaves out, and whether a guarantee or irrevocable bid is in place. Specialists will not name other bidders, and a phrase like "a lot of interest" is market color and no promise.

6. How do you register to bid?

Create an account, then register for the specific sale. Sotheby's asks first-time bidders for proof of identity and may require a deposit or financial references, and it needs a premium-lot application at least three working days before the sale [4][6]. Telephone bidding has to be arranged 24 hours ahead [4]. At Christie's, a bidder in the saleroom must register for a numbered paddle at least 30 minutes before the auction [5].

Budget for the premium. Sotheby's and Christie's in New York charge buyers 28% of the hammer price up to $2 million, 22% from $2 million to $8 million and 15% above that [5][7]. Phillips charges 29%, 22% and 15% on the same bands, falling to 25%, 20% and 14% for bidders who qualify for its Priority Bidding terms [8][9]. A $1 million hammer at Sotheby's or Christie's therefore costs $1.28 million before sales tax.

7. Should you bid online or in the saleroom?

In the saleroom you see who is bidding and how fast, and the auctioneer sees your paddle. On the telephone a house staffer bids for you in real time. Online, you bid through the house's website or app, though Sotheby's says online bidding may not be available for premium lots [4]. An absentee or advance bid sets a maximum in writing before the sale, and the auctioneer executes it at the lowest price the competition allows [4].

Increments are usually about 10% of the previous bid, and the auctioneer may bid on the seller's behalf up to the reserve, which surprises many first-time bidders [4]. Both rules are in the conditions of sale that come with registration.

8. Why are the November evening sales the time to use one?

The November sales in New York are among the largest weeks on the auction calendar. In November 2025, Sotheby's, Christie's and Phillips sold $2.2 billion across 18 sales and more than 1,700 lots, according to HENI [14]. Sotheby's took $1.17 billion in its first series at the Breuer, led by Gustav Klimt's portrait of Elisabeth Lederer at $236.4 million on November 18 [15]. The market has risen since: auction sales at the three houses reached $6.8 billion in the first half of 2026, up 70% from a year earlier, according to Merrill [16].

The November exhibitions also hang the day sales, so an afternoon at the Breuer or Rockefeller Center covers a $20 million canvas and a $50,000 work on paper. We think a buyer learns more there about how a market prices quality, scale and condition than from any database. Masterworks Club members attend previews like these with the art team (what happens at one of those events).

Sources

  1. Sotheby's. "The Now & Contemporary Evening Auction" (sale N12365). Sotheby's, accessed October 6, 2026. https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2026/the-now-contemporary-evening-auction-2
  2. Phillips. "Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale," New York, November 18, 2026. Phillips, accessed October 6, 2026. https://www.phillips.com/auction/NY010726
  3. Sotheby's. "Sotheby's New York." Sotheby's, accessed October 6, 2026. https://www.sothebys.com/en/about/locations/new-york
  4. Sotheby's. "Guide for Buyers: Global." Sotheby's Help Center, 2026. https://help.sothebys.com/en/support/solutions/articles/44002518078-guide-for-buyers-global
  5. Christie's. "New York Conditions of Sale," effective September 1, 2026. Christie's. https://www.christies.com/pdf/Live/LiveConditionsOfSale-NewYork-01Sept26.pdf
  6. Sotheby's. "Guide for Buyers: Symbol Key" and "What is a premium lot?" Sotheby's Help Center, September 2026. https://help.sothebys.com/en/support/solutions/articles/44002518844-guide-for-buyers-symbol-key
  7. Sotheby's. "What is a buyer's premium?" Sotheby's Help Center, September 2026. https://help.sothebys.com/en/support/solutions/articles/44002686902-what-is-a-buyer-s-premium-
  8. Phillips. "Phillips' Buyer's Premium Rates," effective April 12, 2026. Phillips. https://www.dist.phillips.com/content/web/docs/forms/BuyersPremium.pdf
  9. Phillips. "New York Conditions of Sale for Live Auctions." Phillips, 2026. https://www.dist.phillips.com/content/web/docs/forms/NY_Conditions_of_Sale_NY080126.pdf
  10. Sotheby's. "The New York Sales." Sotheby's, accessed October 6, 2026. https://www.sothebys.com/en/series/the-new-york-sales
  11. Christie's. "Auction Calendar: November 2026." Christie's, accessed October 6, 2026. https://www.christies.com/en/calendar/2026/11
  12. Roger Clark. "Masterpieces on view for free at Christie's." NY1, May 2026. https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2026/05/08/art--christie-s--auction
  13. Bonhams. "New York." Bonhams, accessed October 6, 2026. https://www.bonhams.com/location/NYC/new-york/
  14. HENI. "New York's Marquee Week Gets Its Mojo Back." HENI News, November 25, 2025. https://heni.com/news/article/new-york-marquee-heni-auction-index-november-25
  15. Sotheby's. "$236.4 Million Klimt Portrait Sets Records as Sotheby's Inaugurates the Breuer." Sotheby's, November 2025. https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-new-york-sales-november-2025-breuer-results
  16. Merrill. "Art Market Update: Fall 2026." Merrill / Bank of America, September 2026. https://www.ml.com/articles/art-market-fall-update.html

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