Avery Singer Painting Resells for 91% Less After Four Years

A painting that sold for US$2.1 million four years ago just resold for US$243,200.

Avery Singer's Kundry went under the hammer at Sotheby's in New York in the house's Contemporary Curated sale from the collection of architect Robert A.M. Stern. It carried an estimate, the published price range, of US$600,000 to US$800,000. It hammered at US$190,000, the bid the auctioneer closes on before fees, for a final price of US$243,200 once the buyer's premium, the fee added on top, was included, according to reporting published on 9 October 2026 Artnet News.

That is a 91 percent drop by value in four years, before selling costs.

The work is large. It measures 241.3 by 215.9 cm, is executed in acrylic on canvas, and is signed and dated 2018 Sotheby's. It was offered as Lot 240 in the Stern sale.

Singer, an American artist born in 1987, first showed Kundry in her 2018 solo exhibition "Days of the Week (Computer Pain)" at Gavin Brown's Enterprise in New York. The painting first sold at Sotheby's in New York for US$2.1 million four years before the 2026 resale.

This was not its first return to the market. Sotheby's offered Kundry in May 2025 with an estimate of US$1.4 million to US$1.8 million. It was withdrawn, meaning it did not sell in the room.

The result sits far from Singer's peak at auction. Her painting Happening sold for US$5.3 million in 2021. Her total auction sales that year reached US$21.5 million.

What makes this stand out is the gap between auction and gallery prices. Hauser & Wirth, the gallery that represents Singer, reported placing a Singer painting for US$575,000 at Art Basel Hong Kong in March. It reported placing another for US$800,000 at Frieze London the previous year.

For general readers, the numbers tell two stories. One is about a single owner taking a loss. The other is about a market recalibrating after a rush.