Palm Beach Modern: 700+ lots listed

Palm Beach Modern Auctions has now put the full shape of its mid-May sale on the table — and the big takeaway is scale. The Florida house is running a two-day Spring 2026 auction weekend, with a May 16 Modern + Contemporary Art & Design sale and a May 17 follow-up focused on luxury goods, modern classics, and newer discoveries. The combined count is roughly 742 lots based on the live catalogs now posted. ### What actually went live? The catalogs did. PBMA’s main site says the catalogs for its upcoming two-day auction weekend went live on April 23, 2026, and the homepage now points directly to the two sales scheduled for Saturday, May 16, and Sunday, May 17, both starting at noon Eastern. That is the real news here — this is no longer a teaser for consignors, it is a fully shoppable sale weekend for bidders. (modernauctions.com) ### How big is the sale? Big for a regional house. The May 16 art-and-design sale is described by PBMA as an “exceptional” 503-lot event, though mirrored catalog pages show the visible lot count shifting slightly in the high 490s as the listing updates. The May 17 sale is listed at 239 lots on one page and 242 on another, again suggesting minor live-catalog changes. Even using the conservative numbers, the weekend clears 700 lots comfortably. (modernauctions.com) ### What’s in the May 16 art sale? Mostly the kind of names that make a broad mid-market sale feel credible fast. The featured works visible in PBMA’s catalog include Alex Katz, Pablo Picasso, Helen Frankenthaler, Alexander Calder, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Joan Miró, Robert Longo, Yves Klein, Donald Sultan, Damien Hirst, and Mr Brainwash. Artsy’s mirror for the sale highlights Katz, Frankenthaler, and Calder, and confirms live bidding opens May 16 at 12:00 p.m. (bid.modernauctions.com) ET. ### And what about Keith Haring? He is in the mix too, but not as the single defining hook. A live lot page shows a Keith Haring screenprint in the May 16 sale, which fits PBMA’s usual mix of editioned works and higher-value originals. That distinction matters — having a Haring in the catalog is different from having a museum-level Haring anchoring the whole event. (bid.modernauctions.com) ### Why split the weekend in two? Because PBMA is selling two different buyer moods. Day one is the cleaner art-market pitch — postwar and contemporary art, sculpture, furniture, and decorative design. Day two broadens out into luxury handbags, watches, branded goods, and more affordable “new discoveries.” It is basically one weekend serving both committed art collectors and lifestyle bidders who may cross-shop categories. (bidsquare.com) ### What does the fee structure tell you? That PBMA wants online participation, not just room bidders. Artsy lists a 28% buyer’s premium up to $500,000 and 23% above that threshold for the May 16 sale. Those are normal-enough terms for this tier of the market, but they also mean bidders need to think in all-in prices, not hammer prices. A $20,000 winning bid is not a $20,000 purchase. (bid.modernauctions.com) ### Does PBMA have the track record to carry this? Yes — at least enough to make the sale worth watching. PBMA’s own recent highlights include a Sam Francis at $603,250, a Keith Haring work at $500,000, and a Tom Wesselmann sculpture at $312,000. That does not guarantee similar results next weekend, but it shows the house can move six-figure material when the consignment is right. (artsy.net) ### So what’s the real read on this sale? It looks less like a single headline consignment and more like a volume play with recognizable names throughout. That can work well in a cautious market — buyers get range, lower entry points, and enough brand-name artists to keep attention high. ### Bottom line? Palm Beach Modern’s story this week is not one masterpiece. It is that a regional house has assembled a very large, very mixed, clearly market-ready spring sale — and bidding opens in less than a week. (modernauctions.com 1) (modernauctions.com 2)