Overview

• Marlene Dumas’s 'Miss January' sold for $13.6 million at Christie’s on May 14, 2025, setting a new auction record for a living female artist.
• The painting was consigned by the Rubell Family, known for rarely selling pieces from their 5,000-work collection.
• An anonymous telephone bidder, represented by Christie’s deputy chairman Sara Friedlander, won the artwork.
• 'Miss January' revisits themes from Dumas’s early work, including her first drawing, 'Miss World,' created at age 10.
• The sale underscores the persistent gender valuation gap, with male artists like Jeff Koons achieving far higher auction records.