This book traces the 100 most iconic items sold at Sotheby’s

new sotherby's book from phaidon: 'Icons: 100 Extraordinary Objects from Sotheby’s History’ — (Left) Giacomo Herman, Italian Baroque Cabinet, c. 1669-75; (right) Pablo Picasso, *Autoportrait (Yo Picasso)*, 1901 (Image credit: Phaidon & Monacelli / © 2025 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York)

Few institutions have shaped the global art market as profoundly as Sotheby’s. Founded in London in 1744, when Samuel Baker auctioned a collection of books, the house has since evolved into a worldwide authority spanning fine art, jewellery, wine, watches and rare collectibles. Measuring Sotheby’s influence is no easy task, but a new Phaidon publication, now available for pre-order, offers a compelling way in: through the objects that defined it.

Icons: 100 Extraordinary Objects from Sotheby’s History assembles the most significant works ever sold by the auction house. Rather than focusing on price, the book examines quality, rarity, provenance and narrative – those less quantifiable forces that transform an artwork or artefact into an icon. Along the way, it opens a window onto some of the world’s most elusive private collections.

new sotherby's book from phaidon: 'Icons: 100 Extraordinary Objects from Sotheby&rsquo;s History&rsquo; — Maurizio Cattelan, *Comedian*, 2019

The book unfolds chronologically by the date of each object’s creation, producing a sweeping historical arc that spans millennia and mediums. It begins with ‘Sue’, the 67-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, and ends with Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian (2019): a banana duct-taped to a wall that became a lightning rod for debates about value and contemporary art. Each entry is accompanied by its original estimate, final hammer price and commentary from curators and critics.

Between those extremes are stories that feel stranger than fiction: a 1933 Double Eagle coin resurfaces after spending six decades on the United States Secret Service’s Most Wanted list, and a 17th-century Italian Baroque cabinet by Giacomo Herman reappears more than 300 years after its creation – in a pizza parlour.

Art anchors the book. Across more than 60 years of sales, Icons traces the evolution of modern and contemporary collecting through works by Georgia O’Keeffe, Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Joan Mitchell, Jasper Johns, Lucian Freud, Helen Frankenthaler, Francis Bacon, Barkley L Hendricks and Frida Kahlo. It revisits the now-mythic moment when Banksy’s Girl Without Balloon (2018) self-destructed seconds after the hammer fell. Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Untitled (1982) appears as a marker of the artist’s explosive ascent, alongside canonical works such as Gustav Klimt’s Dame mit Fächer (1917-18), David Hockney’s The Splash (1966), Vincent van Gogh’s Irises (1889), and Peter Paul Rubens’ Massacre of the Innocents (1609-11), whose entry delves into the fraught terrain of attribution and provenance.

Luxury objects sit alongside fine art. Jane Birkin’s original Hermès Birkin – arguably the most famous handbag in the world – sparked a media frenzy when it crossed the block. But the book is careful to remind readers that luxury predates modern branding. One of its standout inclusions is the Guennol Lioness, a three-inch Mesopotamian limestone sculpture that sold for $57 million in 2007 and still holds the auction record for any ancient work of art.

The release of Icons feels particularly well timed, coinciding with Sotheby’s high-profile return to the Breuer building in New York City. In the book’s opening essay, ‘Back to Madison’, CEO Charles Stewart reflects on this moment, framing it as both a return and a recommitment.

Icons is less a greatest-hits catalogue than a portrait of how value is made, challenged and remembered. It’s a reminder that behind every headline-grabbing sale lies a deeper story – one that continues to shape how culture is collected and canonised.

Phaidon

Icons: 100 Extraordinary Objects from Sotheby’s History

Anna Solomon is Wallpaper’s digital staff writer, working across all of Wallpaper.com’s core pillars. She has a special interest in interiors and curates the weekly spotlight series, The Inside Story. Before joining the team at the start of 2025, she was senior editor at Luxury London Magazine and Luxurylondon.co.uk, where she covered all things lifestyle and interviewed tastemakers such as Jimmy Choo, Michael Kors, Priya Ahluwalia, Zandra Rhodes, and Ellen von Unwerth.