The opening sales of the fall auction season offered encouragement to a market that has spent years searching for it. Across recent sales at Christie's, Phillips and Sotheby's in New York, buyers showed they were prepared to spend — but only on the right material. Established artists, recognisable bodies of work and estimates that left room to run drew bidding wars and records, while frothier segments of the market were left behind. Sotheby's set the pace. Its Contemporary Curated sale on October 7, curated with six-time NBA All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns and Jordyn Woods, achieved the highest total the format has ever seen: $38.6 million. The collection of architect Robert A.M. Stern, who died last year, totalled $8.7 million against a $5.5 million high estimate with 90 percent of lots sold, led by Andy Warhol's Flowers at $6.3 million. Helen Frankenthaler's 1974 canvas Return and Exit made $3 million, twice its low estimate, and records fell for Annie Leibovitz at $140,800 and Fritz Scholder at $537,600. Works by George Condo, Roy Lichtenstein and Ad Reinhardt also drew strong bidding. Meanwhile Reflections on Pop, a sale of works from the collection of Lichtenstein and his wife Dorothy, totalled $8.5 million, just above its presale high estimate, with 96 percent of works sold — the Pop master being the subject of a retrospective opening this week in New York. The selectivity was most visible in the market for young artists. Avery Singer's Kundry (2018), which fetched $2.1 million at Sotheby's New York in 2022, was withdrawn from a 2025 sale and has now made just $243,200 against a $600,000 low estimate. The message of the week was consistent: money is there, but only for works buyers believe in.